Learning How To Breathe
by Faronon Star Wolf
Summary: -AU, hiatus/discontinued- Yuffie has a problem. It's not bad enough she's caught up in a quest to save the world from a long-haired maniac. Nope. She can also hear dead people.
1. Beginnings

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

_Notes: This is going to end up being an absolute monster of a story, as I can't see any way to finish it prior to the end of the game, given the wide range of changes that come from one small detail._

_I would recommend the OC Remix "Of Transformants and Brevity", which is the song that inspired it._

* * *

Mother used to tell me I'd have strong ties to the spiritual. Well, _told._ As in once, while we were fleeing the SOLDIERs That Night. 

I don't like to think of that. So, I put it in any memory before That Night, and say it happened then, and then, and then, any night but That Night—

But she was right. I've inherited the full measure of the Spirit Sight from both the Kisaragi and the Suijindo families, though _sight_ is a misleading name for it. In any case, that's why I spent my time in the forest, as there was less to feel there than in any of the cities or towns I had ever been to. It's also why I hate riding in boats, but for a different reason.

I wish now that I hadn't left Wutai, because then I probably would have gotten training on what is basically the essence of _thousands_ of people who lived and died affecting my judgment a _lot_ sooner than I ended up getting it.

I never told Cloud and the others, but I had been to Nibelheim before—just briefly, a short stop when I was eleven—nearly twelve—and had just left home. Nibelheim was in the process of being rebuilt—I remember entering, and seeing the almost frantic looks exchanged between the people working. I was a bit frantic myself, because I looked at them, and knew without knowing that they were from Shinra.

Uncomfortable, they offered me a place in one of the women's tents, and I accepted. The woman who I was going to be sharing with spun a tall tale of a fire that burnt down the village—"but no one was hurt, thank God"—and in return I gave her a sob story about how my parents had died, and my evil aunt didn't want me except to work as an unpaid servant, so I ran away from home. She didn't believe me and I didn't believe her.

I'd spent dinner listening to them talking, and excused myself as soon as I had finished eating. Wandering around the village, I naturally approached the only standing building. Standing by the wrought-iron gate, I looked up at it, smoke stained and broken, and shivered. The wind had picked up, and was practically howling out of the mountain gorge.

If I had to put a moment on when the ability to hear spirits kicked in, I would say it was _then._ It had been growing for sometime, but it really started when I was in _that place_.

Staring up at the cracked façade and the broken windows, I could hear someone screaming. I could hear choked gasps, whimpers, and someone chanting brokenly, **shinra. Shinra. Shinra, shinra, shinrashinrashinra_shinra_.**

Someone whimpered **save me, _please_** and then said defiantly **I don't _want_ to be saved**, but I could _hear_ under that self-hatred and **I don't _deserve_ to be saved**.

There was pain and death and horror and it was _this place_ and I could hear faint echoes of someone saying **I'm marrying _him_** and **I'm pregnant** and **I'm dying** all at once. Shattered images of people, white coats and children and guns and _oh god he shot me_ and mothers locked within glass prisons. Someone said **you deserve this** and **it'll show the world what you _really _are** and **I'll lock you here and you'll never get out, _never_** and then there was someone else speaking, **I deserve this, I'm a monster, horrible horrible didn't stop her didn't save her _Lucrecia forgive me please, please oh god I'm so sorry_.**

There was fire and agony and hatred and **thieves, usurpers, I'll kill you all and mother and I will rule** and **out of my way, I'm going to mother** and **you're still sane, aren't you?** and **he _killed_ you, father I'll avenge you, I will I will I will.**

And through it all I could hear someone's heart beating, slow and steady like they were sleeping, and then it sped up, as if they were about to wake—

Then one of the older men called out to me, and I shook out of my trance, turning to face him. I didn't know it _then_, but looking back on it now, if he hadn't called then, I probably would have gone mad. Or died. Or both.

It's not a happy thought.

But this was never a happy talent, because there are people from _both_ sides of my family who were overwhelmed and went nutso. Completely crazy, off their rocker, all that fun stuff.

"Girlie, you don't want to go in there," he said, a calculating gleam in his eyes. "They say it's haunted."

I stared at him for a few seconds, shivering. The whole _town_ reeked of death and pain and betrayal and **he's a _hero_, why is he _doing this?_**

"I—I need to l-leave," I was finally able to say, stuttering. I could feel the desperation for revenge and pain and **_why did you do it?_ Give back my mother, my hometown my friends my family _everything I ever knew_**.

I had to get out, I had to _leave_, I was on edge of madness and dancing on a wire over an abyss of fire and rage and cold cool dispassionate _inhuman_ logic.

I turned, then, and ran, fleeing from the voices and the agony and **what _are_ you!** and _screaming, falling into green light_ and pain and **take them to the mansion, I could use some new specimens**. I fled, leaving behind everything I had with me in the tent of a Shinra employee and knowing only I had to leave before something happened that I couldn't handle.

I came to myself again hours later, huddled in between the roots of a tree, quivering and shaking and remembering Mother's words on _That Night_, of how to build a wall between myself and the world, and how it wouldn't stop everything but the old horrors would fade, leaving only the newer ones to haunt me. I trembled, reciting her words to myself and focused, doing the best I could with the little reserves I had, pushing away the _memories_—finally I pushed myself to my feet, feeling sick and weak. I didn't know where I was, but there was that slow and steady heartbeat in the back of my mind, and I knew if I followed that I would be able to find my way back to Nibelheim from anywhere.

I went back, finding the town still and silent and abandoned. I grabbed my bag and fled again, thankful the tents weren't in the town _itself. _I slipped out again,leaving that place behind me and vowing that I would never never _never_ step foot there again. I stumbled into Cosmo Canyon just after noon, exhausted and aching, eyes burning whenever I shut them.

It was more peaceful there, but there was still pain and hatred and envy and **father I hate you, you abandoned us and mother died it's all your fault I hate you I hate you _I hate you_**.

I left as soon as I was rested, traveling to Gongaga, but there was more pain and agony and **why did it explode, there's no reason for that to have happened**.

I fled, and spent the next months traveling, stopping at North Corel—**it's all _his_ fault**—The Gold Saucer—**you _know_ you want to**—Costa del Sol—**they say he's a _scientist,_ isn't that so _sexy_?**—jumping onto a ship to Junon—**it's all Shinra's fault, they've ruined _everything_ they touch**—and finally stopping in one of the forests, where the only memory clinging to it was **oh god, I've never done this in a_ forest _before**.

That remnant faded as I lived there, running off instinct and intuition, eroding the support of it day by day until it collapsed, leaving only _me_ in its place.

It was the most free I'd ever felt.


	2. Out of the Forest

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

_Notes: Since it seems to be a point of concern, I'm going to say I have quite a bit of this already written, and all that I need to do before it can be posted is edit it._

_So, no, it won't be years until the next chapter._

* * *

I spent almost four years in that forest before my life changed again. 

I always ran people out as soon as they entered, because I didn't want _any_ taint of memories in the one place I'd found sanctuary in. It was all I could do at times to survive, but I managed _somehow_. Maybe that's why I'm so short now, even for being from Wutai—I didn't eat well enough while I was _really _growing, so I didn't grow very much.

Well, it makes sense to _me_.

So that was my life: eat, sleep, save my skin from monsters, and harass hapless travelers. I didn't harass them _so _much that any mobs came after me, though.

And then, years after I had made it my home, a group entered but _there was no sense they would affect me_. There was only peace and tranquility and **won't you come out and speak to us?**

I almost obeyed until I realized that _oh _gawd_ it was a _lie_ and they _were_ affecting me, I would have to_ leave_ they'd _poisoned_ my safe place, my sacred place—_

I attacked them.

The fight raged, three against one—**please, we don't want to fight**—unfairly balanced in their direction—**just let me talk to you!**—and made worse by the fact I couldn't think straight because—**please, stop fighting, I _don't want to hurt you_**—I was lost and scared and _hurting_.

And finally a lucky blow hit me, and I collapsed, dizzy and black spots swimming through my head and before my eyes and someone speaking—"Cloud, wait, let me talk to her"—and a cool hand rested on my forehead.

**I know it hurts, but try to calm down,** I heard but _didn't_ hear.

"_No,_" I whimpered, trying to pull away. "Get _out_, go away, leave me _alone_."

"Aeris—" A man's voice, worried.

"It's alright, Cloud," the personcrouching next to me called. I forced my eyes open and looked up at her. Green eyes and brown hair and a kind face, and I pushed myself away from her, knowing that she was the one who was _speaking_ to me. **I can help you**, she said.

"_No!_ Go _away!_" She reached one hand out and I recoiled. "Get _out of my mind_, go away, go away go away go _away_. Leave me _alone._"

"It's alright," she replied soothingly, "I know how you feel."

"You don't, you _can't,_ go _away_ _I_ _don't want you here_." I could feel tears welling up, why wouldn't she _leave?_

"I've been through what you're dealing with. I can help you. Please, let me help."

I stared at her, tears running down my face. She knelt on the ground, one hand outstretched towards me. Uncertainly, I reached out and touched it, and _oh gawd_, walls sprung up, surrounded me, shielding me from the burning touch of _everything_. I was _alone_ in my own mind. I was _free_.

I stared at her until it finally sunk in, and I flung myself into her waiting arms to sob in relief.

Eventually I pulled away, smiling brightly. "_Thank you,_ oh, gawd, thank you _so much_. I'll repay you, I don't know how, but I _will_—oh, _gawd_ I have to go _home_ it's been years—"

"Go, Yuffie. All you need to do to repay me is to help us when you've visited your home." With that she stood and walked back to her companions, brushing her skirt off as she went. I scrambled to my feet and rushed off to my small, ramshackle little hut—more of a lean-to—built against the side of a tree. I rushed through packing, my heart lighter then it had been in years. No need to worry about the death and fear and memories of fire and **Listen to me _carefully_, Yuffie**—and _short thick fingers wrapped around my throat—_

I shivered, but I shoved it away—it was past, it _wouldn't_ happen again. I was going home and I wouldn't have to worry about the thousands and thousands of shades of emotions and memories that everything was soaked in, that this world had been steeped in, a thousand flavors of pain and anguish and everything that was wrong in the universe. I was going _home_. I could argue with my father and annoy Shake and climb to the top of Da Chao, and even if I were to fall _I wouldn't care_.

_I was going home._


	3. Triumphant Return

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

I made tracks as fast as I could to Junon, and got myself on one of the few ships that skirted around the bottom of the Western Continent and went to Rocket Town. That took _days_, and I was sick for most of that time—gawd, what Aeris had done blocked pretty much _everything_ except the physical effects of those remnants of people. I don't remember when I realized that I knew her name and she'd known mine without being introduced, but I felt that _somehow_ I'd met her before, even though I _knew_ I hadn't. It didn't bother me, for some reason. 

After we hit the shore near Rocket Town, I spent one _wonderful_ night on solid ground before heading back to sea, this time on a Wutain trading ship. Another day and I was _home._

--

I don't know what I'd been expecting—that the fact his daughter and only heir was missing would inspire my father to pull Wutai out of the downhill spiral it was in—but, if anything, my little hometown was even _more_ of a tourist trap then it had been when I left almost four years ago.

I waited until a pair of tourists had left one of thegreeters near the entrance, then approached her. Her eyebrows rose as she took in my appearance—not as clean as I'd like, after a solid week of sailing and only being able to have cold water baths during those years in the forest—have you ever tried to get water in a stream heated up without a bucket or a place to heat it up? Yeah, _you'd _wash right in the stream, _too_.

"Do you know where Lord Godo might be at the moment?" I asked politely in my native language—_yes,_ I _can_ be polite—I didn't live in that forest my _whole_ life!

"He is most often in the Padoga at this time," she replied, a hopeful smile lighting her face. "Traveler, do you bring news of the young Lady Kisaragi?"

I smiled widely. "I _do_ bring news of her."

She bowed formally to me, and I could hear a camera clicking, and some kid (a snot-nosed bratty little boy from the sound of it) asking why the fancy lady was bowing to the scruffy _girl_. "Go, then, and Leviathan speed your feet. He has almost given up hope."

I went, because even when we had our disagreements, he was my _father_ and he was almost sure I was _dead_—

—_short fingers, thick and cold and choking the breath from me—_

I shook that out of my mind. I wouldn't let _anything_ get me down. I was _home_, for the first time in practically four years, and I was _here_, I could come back whenever I wanted, and _nothing_ would haunt me except what I had been through. I could live with that.

I _had_ lived with that.

I burst into the first floor of the Padoga, and two people looked up in surprise. I waved merrily at Gorki and called out a cheeky insult to Shake before dashing for the stairs. Behind me I could hear a surprised exclamation of my name, and all I could do was _smile_ and keep running, because I couldn't stand having to _walk_.

The other floors were empty until I reached the fifth, my father's, and there were the others—kneeling beside my father—_my father!_—and I barely stopped to take them in before looking at him. He was staring at me like I was a ghost, and he slowly stood, looking like he didn't dare to hope I was _home_.

"Father," I said, dropping to my knees and going into the _full_ bow to the ruler, palms flat against the floor and forehead _maybe_ an inch above them.

I heard footsteps approaching me, and then someone kneeling in front of me. I remained in the bow until a shaking hand rested upon my shoulder, and then I looked up to meet my father's eyes. "Yuffie?" He seemed shaken—of course, before I'd left I had rarely acknowledged his position—but he was my _father_ and it'd been four years and I felt I _had_ to do this right, errant heir returning home after _four years_.

I nodded, and then couldn't help it—I leapt at him and hugged him, _the first time in four years_—crowing that he'd better believe it, _I was back_.

--

It took hours before we actually were able to sit down and talk—for the longest time, the second we looked at each other, we'd burst into tears or laughter or _both_—I was _home_—and all I wanted to do was cling to him like I hadn't done since I was _five_ and know that I was _back_, and I didn't have to fear being trapped away again.

Finally, though, we pulled back from each other and settled in to talk. Checkhov had brought tea, and replaced it whenever it cooled, so when we _did_ finish our reunion we had hot jasmine tea waiting for us.

I sipped the tea and closed my eyes in bliss at the taste. Four years of nothing but spring water caused it to taste strong to me, and I had _missed_ it—one of _many_ things that had been missing from my life in the forest.

My dad chose that moment to ask his first question. "Yuffie, where have you been? You'd left a note, but when you never returned I had feared—" he fell silent, and he looked down to contemplate the floor.

"I went to find a way to bring our pride back to Wutai," I replied, looking at my hands holding the teacup. "I had barely left before—_something—_changed. I heard—memories. Voices. Echoes of feelings.

"I… it had been too much—I couldn't find anywhere that wasn't overwhelming to me. I found myself in a forest with no way out that didn't hold the fear of going mad."

"The Spirit Sight," he sighed. "I wish I had known—I would have sent someone to help you find a way to lock the voices away. No. I would have gone _myself_."

"It wouldn't have helped—I couldn't bear to have _anyone_ near me. I would have driven you away."

My father looked up, and shock filled his eyes. "It is that strong within you?" When I nodded, he looked down in sorrow. "Your mother and I knew that any children we had would be powerful, but I never thought…"

"You never thought what?" He shook his head, and I knew I shouldn't be this angry, but I _was_. I'd spent _four years_ in a forest and he wouldn't tell me _why_. "Tell me, old man!"

"Old man! Show respect for your elders, child!"

"I'll show _you_ respect when you show _me_ you deserve it!"

A pause drew out, and then he started chuckling, and soon we were laughing, rolling on the floor in mirth and the world was right and I was _home_.

"Oh, Yuffie, we haven't changed a bit, have we?" he said, wiping tears from his eyes. I grinned and shook my head.

"No doubt we'd still get into arguments about what to cook for dinner," I replied, recalling the epic battles of who was going to cook what.

"Yuffie…" Dad's face sobered. "You aren't going to stay, are you?"

I looked down. His sigh when I remained silent was regretful.

"…Very well. I can't try to keep you locked up. You have grown so much, and if I tried to keep you here, you would escape, and probably never return.

"All I can ask is… be safe."

I straightened myself and bowed to him. "As my Lord orders."

"You are the best daughter I could ever wish for. I am very proud to be able to call you my heir."

I beamed at him.

"Now, when do you need to leave? When are you expected to rejoin your companions?"

"Well… uh, I need to be at Cosmo Canyon in three days, so I can stay for tomorrow… and I don't know for sure they'll let me go with them. Aeris—she's the one who helped me—she asked me to come help them, but I don't think she's the leader… But yeah. Cosmo Canyon in three days." I paused. How had I _known_ they would be there? I wasn't sure, but I knew it was just as true as the fact that my name is Yuffie Kisaragi.

"Very well…" he sounded resigned, but then he cheered up. "You will have to bring this Aeris and her friends. We will throw a festival for the ones who returned you to us."

I nodded, grinning. "Are we going to have gong-beaters?"

He blinked. "I thought you had grown out of your fascination with the gong players?"

"I _have_. I don't think Aeris or that other girl with them have seen a proper Wutain festival, though." I grinned even more widely, and my father chuckled.


	4. Introductions

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

_Notes: We actually get an explaination of what Yuffie can do. Hurrah._

* * *

I was kneeling before Leviathan's Throne, looking up at the gold-covered carvings that covered all of the walls. A carving of Leviathan's head seemed to rest its chin on the back of the chair. I started at it, the pearls that were the eyes gleaming in the light of the candle I had brought with me. 

I could remember how I had been in this same position the night I had left, gazing up to see the empty sockets in his Crown, where our pride—the Materia that Shinra had stolen—had once been. Leviathan seemed to be looking down at me disapprovingly—_you have forgotten your vow, child_—and I shivered before bowing—**I, Yuffie Kisaragi, swear upon Leviathan's Crown that I will find Materia to fill the void left by those that Shinra stole**—and rested my forehead against the ground.

"_I have not forgotten my vow._ I _will_ restore Wutai to its former glory, no matter _what_ it takes."

--

Waving frantically at the ship that had taken me there, I shouted one last message back to Checkhov—_"Tell the old man to get Wutai out of tourism!"_—before starting along the path to Cosmo Canyon. Dad had wanted to come himself, but I had insisted he stay—"What if the _ship_ sank? Then I'd have to rule, and oh _gawd_ what a bore!"—so he had sent Checkhov instead.

One thing that bothered me was that the heartbeat had gotten louder—_sure_, okay, it had gotten louder before, when I was on my _oh-so-fun_ boat trip to Rocket Town, but I had been sick then and therefore hadn't focused on it much—but _now_ I was on solid ground, and it was _loud_—well, yeah, _hello_, Yuffie, you're near _Nibelheim—_

I traveled by foot to the entrance of Cosmo Canyon, making good time for the terrain I had to cover. Hiking up the stairs that lead to it—good _gawd_ I could learn to hate stairs—I found Aeris waiting for me at the entrance.

"Yuffie," she said in greeting, a warm smile on her face. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Hi, Aeris," I replied, and then paused. What do you _say_ to someone you've only met once before? I'd been living in a _forest_ for four years. I was _way_ behind on being able to socialize.

She laughed, but it wasn't directed towards me—it seemed to be more at _herself_. "No, we didn't get very well introduced, did we? I'm Aeris Gainsborough."

"I'm Yuffie Kisaragi," I replied, bowing without any real conscious thought. It's ingrained in everyone from Wutai that when you introduce yourself, you _bow._ It's just how it is. Of course, when I looked up, Aeris had a thoughtful look on her face.

"You're from Wutai, aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah," I replied, a bit startled.

Aeris bowed a bit awkwardly—I _really_ startled that someone who looked like she never did anything ungracefully _could_—and spoke in badly pronounced Wutainese, "I am pleased to meet you."

I gaped at her, but before I could reply, she shook her head. "That's all I know, really. Zack, my old boyfriend, was a genius with languages. He taught me how to say a few things, but it's been… a long time." She looked off into the distance for a few seconds before a smile returned to her lips, but she had looked so _sad_ for that brief moment. "But, come on. Let's go to the Cosmo Candle, everyone's waiting there."

I followed her, suddenly feeling awkward again. With Aeris, I knew I didn't have to worry about acting weird—it was going to happen, and it was inevitable—but I was walking towards a group of unknown people, and I didn't think they would be as understanding as Aeris would. They probably _couldn't_. I followed her towards a large campfire, and the group of five that was seated around it.

"Wait, Aeris—" I couldn't meet her eyes when she turned to face me, and continued, blurting out my thoughts as they happened. "I can't talk to them, please don't make me—they're going to _hate_ me, they aren't going to _understand_—oh, gawd _please don't make me go._"

"Yuffie, look at me." I shook my head, and Aeris touched my shoulder. "Yuffie, I've already told them that they need to listen to what you have to say. I know that Red, at least, will listen to you. Please come? I won't ask you to come with us if you still don't feel comfortable."

"I… All right."

I followed her up the small steps to the platform the fire was on, cringing when I came under the gaze of the people seated there.

"Everyone, this is Yuffie," Aeris announced, gently pushing me forward a step.

"U-um, hi," I said, barely catching myself before I bowed. There might be someone from Midgar here, and I was sure that Shinra had spread a lot of propaganda against Wutai during the war.

"You're looking a little less pathetic, kid," said one of the men, and I looked over at him to see one of the tallest people I'd ever seen—and was that a _gun arm?_—and he grunted, scratching the back of his head with his normal hand. "Kids just shouldn't look that bad. Even in the slums…"

"Oh, save me!" came a cry from the large Moogle doll across the fire. I watched and gaped as a cat—a _cat_—climbed up on top of the doll's head and straightened the crown on its head. "If you're going to go into another speech about how 'My Marlene is the smartest, most beautiful little girl in all of Midgar', I swear, I'll take my microphone and shove it—"

"Shut y'mouth!"

"Barret, Cait Sith, knock it off. Yuffie? I'm Tifa. Why don't you come sit down so you can tell us your story?" I looked at the brunette who could only be defined as a _life-support system for breasts_, and nodded, taking another step forward before dropping down into a cross-legged position. Aeris went and sat down next to a large red…liondogthing with a _flaming tail._ My _gawd_, what was this, a traveling _circus?_

"Um… has Aeris told you anything?" I asked quietly, looking around. The only one who hadn't spoken yet, a blond guy who had a sword that was _as tall as I was_ and hair in gravity defying spikes, answered.

"No. All she said was that it wasn't her place to explain, and you would tell us. Why did you attack us?"

"To answer that, I need to explain why I was in the forest in the first place… I, uh, I have something the Wutai call Spirit Sight, although that's a really misleading name… Um, basically, whenever you interact with something, a part of you—emotions, overwhelming thoughts—it rubs off. It clings to the object, or place.

"Spirit Sight… Well, you're sensitive to the remnants. And—when I first got it, I was in a place—" I shuddered. I couldn't help it. "I—it—oh, _gawd—_"

"Yuffie?" Ignoring Tifa, I continued.

"T-there had been so many people killed there, a-and I—"

"Yuffie." I looked up at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Aeris inclined her head slightly towards the liondogthing beside her, and as I watched, he spoke again, his voice light and rough and yet _soothing_. "I have heard of this Spirit Sight—could you tell me what you feel from Cosmo Canyon?"

I spoke distractedly, trying to work out _talking_ liondogthings in my mind. "Um—well, the thing that Aeris did that helped me is blocking out everything, but I was here just after—um, _that_ happened. Would that work?" At his nod, I thought back. "Um… There was pain and envy. Someone hated their father—and—"

"Thank you." With that, the liondogthing put his head back on his legs and looked into the Cosmo Candle as if he would find answers to life, the universe, and everything there.

"What was _that_ about, Reddy-Red?" the cat sitting on top of the Moogle asked. "Hey, does it have anything to do with that trip you and Cloud and Bugenhagen went on this morning?"

"…perhaps," the liondogthing—Red?—replied. "She does indeed possess the ability she claims to, however."

"_What?"_ I yelped, furious. "I don't _believe _this—if you're not going to believe me—"

Red turned to look at me—_oh, _wow,_ he's only got _one eye—and spoke calmly in reply. "I beg your pardon. While I have been raised to believe in the spiritual, the others have not had the benefit of my experiences. They were more than likely skeptical about your claim."

"Oh…" I looked down at my hands and thought about it for a bit, then looked at the other people around the fire. Tifa was trying to hide the embarrassment on her face and was failing, but she nodded, and spiky-hair-guy-with-the-mega-SWORD-who-never-introduced-himself just nodded. Both the cat _and_ the Moogle shrugged at the same time, and the big black guy—Barret—shook his head uncomfortably.

"Shit, kid, I don't know _anything_ about this crap."

--

After they pulled me off Barret, as I had been doing my best to beat some knowledge of "this crap" into his head, I sat down and explained the rest of my story, ending with getting stuck in that forest for close to four years.

"So… basically, anywhere people have been for a while affects you?" Spiky-haired guy asked.

"Kinda… If the emotion is really strong, like—um, if the emotion is really strong, then it takes less time for it to, uh, stick, I guess? I don't know how to explain it… I don't really understand it myself." I shrugged. "So, Spikes, have I explained enough?"

Spiky-haired guy had a bewildered look on his face. "Spikes?"

"Well, yeah. You didn't introduce yourself—what do you want me to call you—'Hey, you, the one with the _freaking huge_ sword'?"

Cait Sith cracked up, laughing so hard he fell off the head of the Moogle. "Freaking huge is _right_—Cloud, are you _compensating!_"


	5. Yuffie Babble Day

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

Later, after I got told to "go away so we can decide what to do" and Aeris showed me where they were staying, I sat on one of the beds and wondered where the hell I was going to find the Materia I needed. If I just got enough to fill the Crown, then people would start taking more pride in our past, right? I mean, the Materia from the Crown… Every ruler has had to master at least one to put in it. The souls of the past… 

And though Shinra didn't know it, the whole throne room? Socketed for Materia. Anyone within arm's reach of the throne can cast what is _hundreds_ of years of collecting Materia. Or at least _could._

They should have burnt down the building, but they didn't. A pity for them, because…

If we're ever in that kind of situation again, I'll make _sure_ we have a chance to strike back.

I _will_.

But there's still the problem of where I'd _find_ that much Materia…

A knock on the door followed by it opening caught my attention, and Aeris poked her head in.

"We've decided… would you mind if we came in?" When I shook my head, she smiled and walked in, followed by Spikes—Cloud.

Cloud ran one hand through his hair, which did _nothing_ to flatten it, and shifted his weight to one leg. "You can come with us, if you choose, but at the moment we don't have the money to spare to supply you with a weapon at the moment—can you do that yourself?"

I nodded—one of the things Dad has insisted on before I left was to give me "enough money to keep you going for a while", in his words—which, actually, if I spent sparingly, would hold me for a _year_. Or _longer_.

…One good thing about tourism is that it brings in money, I guess. I just don't want my country to be _completely_ dependant on it.

Now _there's_ an idea. Build a small replica of a village, and anyone who _enjoyed_ doing the tourism stuff could work there, and we could live in peace—I'll have to pass that on to my father.

"Good," he said, and dug in his pocket. I watched, not exactly sure what he was doing until he pulled out a small drawstring bag, which he tossed to me. It felt like there were marbles, or something else that was round in it, and frowning, I opened it, and poured some of the objects out into my hand.

Small glowing round balls lay in my palm, green and yellow and blue, and I stared at them for a second in shock before looking up. "What…?"

"Well, it didn't look like you had any Materia with you, so here are some of our spares. This will be enough, won't it? We have more if it isn't," Aeris explained, smiling.

Oh, _gawd_.

I needed Materia, but I hadn't known where to find it.

—_**I, Yuffie Kisaragi, swear upon Leviathan's Crown**_—

I was joining these people, and they were _giving me Materia, and they had more if it wasn't enough_.

—_**that I will find Materia to fill the void**_—

And, oh, _gawd_ they were Aeris' friends, and I _owed her_.

—_**left by those that Shinra stole**._—

I—oh, _gawd._

—**I have not forgotten my vow. _I_ will _restore Wutai to its former glory, no matter_ what **_**it takes**._—

Leviathan help me…

--

We set out the next day—"Let's mosey", quoth the Cloud. Mosey? Who _says _that? Our, ah, _illustrious_ leader, apparently.

We got into a vomit-comet—buggy, excuse me, and I got _horribly_ sick, and no one wanted to sit next to me.

After we stopped for a break—a mere half hour after we set out—I got moved up out of the back into the passenger seat, and Things Went Well From There, because that helped. Somehow.

I want to say I was a big cheerful ball of fun, but I _wasn't_, given the dilemma I was in. To steal, or not to steal?

I hate how life goes, sometimes.

"So…" I started, tired of waiting for someone to talk. This was a silent bunch, apparently… well, except for Aeris and Tifa talking about clothes, and Barret and Cait Sith sniping at each other, and Cloud humming tunelessly to himself—okay, so I was tired of waiting for someone to talk to _me_. Having lived in a _forest for four years_, I was understandably behind on fashions, so I couldn't join in. And I didn't feel like joining in with the current topic of discussion, the Fine Art of Belching. "Where are we headed?"

Suddenly, the only sound was Red's soft snoring from the floor in back, and I looked over my shoulder to see everyone was looking at Cloud. I turned to look at Cloud, too.

Cloud was trying to strangle the steering wheel. When he finally answered, it was in a voice that was low and tense and angry. "We're going to Nibelheim."

--

I was, as could be imagined, not pleased at _all_. I should have known, given that we were going _north_—_of course_ they're not going to Nibelheim, Yuffie, there must be a nice Materia cave in that general direction—yeah, just _keep telling yourself that._

"W-wait, we aren't, we aren't really, right? Please? You—you told me what happened there, I can't—I won't—" I was Not Making Sense. It was Yuffie Babble Day.

"We _have to_. Sephiroth went this way, and there's no other way through the mountains."

"Stop this thing. I'm getting out. I'm not going, I won't, _you can't make me._"

"Yuffie, you said that what Aeris did has blocked out everything, didn't you?"

"I'm not going, _no no no no—_oh, _gawd_ please don't make me go!" I was, to put it in the politest way, the slightest bit hysterical.

Cloud pulled the buggy to a stop, and I got out as quickly as I could, tripping over my own feet before scrambling back up. Someone called something from behind me, but I wasn't listening.

All of a sudden, everything got

very

slow

and

I

couldn't

move

but then, I found the world moving at its normal pace, and I was standing in front of Aeris, who had her staff in one hand, and someone—Cloud?—was standing behind me with his hands on my shoulders, keeping me in place.

"No," I managed. "Please don't make me go."

"Yuffie, if you want to help us, you'll have to come with us. I'm sorry—but I know that if my protections on your mind break, I will be able to restore them. Just stay close to me."

"I—"

"Yuffie, you're either going to have to come with us, or we'll have to part ways. We don't have the time to work through the Nibel Mountains just so we can bypass Nibelheim. It won't take long—it burnt down five years ago, after all. All we need to do is walk through it, which will take five minutes. You can do that, can't you?"

I swallowed, and nodded. I didn't want to say, "Oh, hey, you know that fire? Shinra's trying to cover it up—they were rebuilding it when I was here four years ago, you know, about the time _my life turned to shit_", because, you know, they probably _wouldn't believe me._

"Are you still going to come with us?" Aeris asked, compassion shining in her eyes. I nodded again, and Cloud let go of my shoulders at that, and slung one arm around them instead.

"Come on—at least you don't have to worry about being cornered by Auntie Edweena—she used to keep me in her kitchen for _hours_ when I was a kid, telling me about the good old days, and how my father used to be such a _nice_ young man…"


	6. Self Deception Can Be Fun

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

I'd been hoping that maybe Shinra had decided that it was too much of a bother to rebuild Nibelheim—that it _was_ just burnt down, like Cloud had said, but as usual, I was trying to delude myself. 

Things went to hell when we got close enough to see buildings where there shouldn't be any, but I ignored it, as I was trying _very_ hard to tune out that heartbeat in my head, which was growing even_louder_.

"What the _hell_," Cloud hissed, once again trying to kill the steering wheel with his bare hands. Gloved hands, whatever.

"I thought you said this place was burnt down?" Red asked, peering between the two front seats out the windshield.

"It _was._ I can remember… the heat of the flames…"

_Go away,_ I muttered to the heartbeat. _Go away go away go away. Aeris did that thing to shield me, why are you still _there?

It sped up for a few beats, then leveled out again.

I'd been concentrating so fiercely on trying to block out that heartbeat that I didn't notice we'd pulled up outside of the outer edge of buildings. Tifa touched my shoulder lightly, and I jumped before realizing we'd arrived. Not feeling very cheerful _at all_, I climbed out of the buggy and looked around.

There were quite a few buildings, including That One On The Hill—which I looked away from _right quick_—and there were a few people out and about, chatting when they passed.

Oh, and don't forget the creepy as hell _people in black cloaks._ That might be the _slightest bit_ important.

One was slumped against a well, sprawled like he'd just fallen there, dead, and no one had bothered to check on him, to see if he was all right or if he needed help. One hand was visible, pale skin against the dark cloak, and a vivid red tattoo stood out against his skin.

It was a tattoo of "X".

"What…" Tifa began, and swallowed. "What's going _on_ here? It burned down, I _know_ it did…"

"This ain't some kind of dream, is it?" Barret asked, as shocked as everyone else.

I opened my mouth to speak up—I can't remember for the life of me what I was going to say now, but it must have seemed important at the time—and then closed it when I heard an echo, a ghost whisper—**why is he**—

I shivered.

"Yuffie, are you all right?" I jumped—Aeris had walked up to my side without me noticing.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," I replied, looking over the town and seeing another person in black, and another, and another, and _another_— "Who are they?" I asked, my voice a mere whisper. "_What_ are they?"

"I don't know," Aeris replied, just as quietly.

Cloud had strode over to one of the people—one of the _normal_ people, not Them Of The Black Cloaks—and was talking to him, gesticulating wildly, but to no effect, it seemed. The man was shaking his head, and then when Cloud turned away, he turned and rushed into one of the buildings.

A few seconds later, the curtains on one of the windows stirred slightly and I could just barely see someone peering out. Before I could point it out to someone, the person at the window stepped back and all that was left was a slightly swaying piece of cloth.

"_Hey_—" I heard Cloud say indignantly, and I spun to see him standing, one of the _people in black cloaks_ gripping one of his arms tightly.

"Sephiroth… the mansion…"

—**take them to the**—

"What—" Cloud said, then staggered backwards as the person slumped against him, a puppet whose strings had been cut. I followed as the others rushed over to him, to reach him as he laid the person out on the cobblestones—**still sane, aren't**—and turned the hands over to find another tattoo.

"VII".

"Sephiroth… here? It figures…" Cloud murmured, looking down at the person. "This _is_ where it all began…

"…let's go."

--

Once it sank in we were going to That House On The Hill, I threw a small fit—"I'm not going in there!"—but Cloud had a cunning counter-argument—"Fine. Go your own way."—so I went with them.

There was something about that mansion that just _freaked me out_. I don't know what it was, except for the feeling that horrible things had happened here—**dying**—and that no amount of time would _ever_erase anything that the people here had done.

The heartbeat was getting louder with every step toward that building, echoing through my head and distracting me—**deserve this, I'm a**—from the discussion that was going on between the others.

Once we stepped into the mansion, though—**never get out**—everything clicked.

"Guys, wait, there's someone here," I gasped, looking around the foyer, broken furniture and dust everywhere.

"Of _course_ there is," Cloud replied impatiently. "Sephiroth."

"_No,_" I replied, taking a step forward. "There's someone _else_—"

"…There appears to be a note here," Red said from one of the small rooms off the main foyer. We all trooped into the room, and Tifa, being the first one there, picked up the envelope.

"There's a piece of paper in here…" she said, then looked up. "Should I read it?"

"_Yes,_" I replied, but she didn't start until Cloud had nodded.

"'I must get rid of all those who stand in the way of my research. Even that one from the Turks…I scientifically altered him, and put him to sleep in the basement. If you want to find him, then search the area.

"'But… this is only a game. If you don't want you participate, you don't have to…' That's all it says," Tifa said, and flipped the paper over. "There are some hints here."

Everyone gathered around, and then split up. I elected to stay in the room that the note was found it, to look closer at it. Once I'd skimmed over the front of the page again—**lock you here**—I turned it over and looked at the list of clues. Squinting at the last hint, I thought I saw the impression of something written below it. Looking around, I saw a candle lying on its side on the floor. It was the work of a second to light it, and then I held the piece of paper close, but not _too_ close to the flame.

I smiled in satisfaction as dark words began to appear on the paper.

"Yuffie, we've found part of what I think is part of the combination to a safe…" Red said, looking into the room.

"So did I," I replied, holding up the paper and showing him the new hint.

He smiled, which was a fierce look on his scarred face. "Let's find the others, then."

We ran into Cloud and Aeris on the stairs—"We found—" "So did we,"—and then went to find Tifa and Barret. They, along with Cait Sith, were standing in a room on the second floor staring at a safe.

"Hey, we found—" Barret started, then looked at us more closely. "You guys too, huh?"

A chorus of "yes" answered him, and he stepped out of the way for Cloud, so he could look at the safe.

He fumbled with entering the numbers we helpfully shouted out, then jumped back with a yelp.

"What happened?" Cait Sith asked, leaning forward from his perch on the Moogle.

"It _shocked me_," Cloud said, shaking his hand furiously.

"Maybe it's got a timer on it," I offered, peering at the safe. Cloud turned and Looked at me.

"We _should_ be finding Sephiroth," he said, then gestured towards the safe. "You open it. I'm going to go take Aeris and Red with me to go look for Sephiroth."

I was already kneeling beside the safe when they left, turning the knob easily. Hitting the last number in the combination, I opened it, but then—**a monster, horrible**—some_thing_ came out of the safe and—

Tifa screamed, and I got my muscles working and scrambled backwards, reaching over my shoulder for my new shuriken, throwing it at the monster. The first hit was_ mine_.


	7. Saving the Sinner

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

The battle went surprisingly quickly, well, it did once Cloud, Aeris, and Red burst back in. Apparently we were too strong for it—I mean, it was seven against one—well, one and a half. 

After it died, I approached the safe cautiously, pulling the door open with the tip of one of the blades on my shuriken. It only took a glimpse of what was inside before I leapt forward, reaching inside eagerly.

"_Summon Materia!_" I squealed, turning to wave it at everyone. "Can I have it, oh, please please please, can I?"

"All right," Cloud replied easily. "Was there anything else in the safe?"

"Just an old key." I held it up, then slipped it into one of my pockets. "That's it. Can we leave?"

"No, we still need to find Sephiroth," Cloud answered, any sign of good humor gone. "Let's go. He must be in the basement, because we've checked everywhere else…"

"Hey, that's where the letter said the 'one from the Turks' was," Tifa said, looking a bit excited.

"Hey, uh, _should_ we release him?" We all turned to look at Cait Sith. "I mean, yeah, he's been scientifically altered by what sounds like a mad scientist, but he was a Turk, wasn't he? Just 'cause he probably has a grudge against some guy doesn't mean he'll help us. 'Professional psychopath' is practically _required_ on the average Turk's resume."

"Well…" Cloud said, and it almost looked like he was going to agree with him. I cut in.

"How about we just go in and talk to him? If he's totally batshit psycho, we can lock the door again. And if not, we've got one more person."

Everyone turned to look at _me_, and I gave them my biggest smile. They turned to Cloud, who was thinking about it. "Well… All right."

We walked across the second floor to a room—"Cloud, I don't see _how _this is supposed to get us into the—oh."—and then down the rabbit hole we went. Or—down the hidden spiral staircase, as the case may be…

May I state again how freaking _creepy_ that place is? Because it _is_. It's _really_ creepy. The whole hallway down there was lit by a purple light—and before you think, "hah, purple light, how scary could _that_ be?"—you've _never been there_. You haven't seen it.

So, anyway. Hallway. Purple light. Locked door halfway down.

I stopped right in front of it. The heartbeat was the strongest it had ever been, and when I took a step closer to the door, it was a bit louder.

"He's in here," I said, staring at the door. Reaching into my pocket for the key, I took another step closer.

"Yuffie, wait," I heard Cait Sith say, and I turned to see the Moogle hopping up to me. The cat stared up at me, whiskers twitching. "Don't open that door."

"Why?" I asked, exasperated.

"Because…" he looked back at the others, who were standing a few feet away, gestured for me to lean in, and continued, whispering into my ear when I'd done what he wanted. "Because I saw some of Shinra's files once, okay? Don't ask me how. But it said that one of the people involved in making Sephiroth was locked in here. Don't open it."

I thought about that. Sephiroth had been the General that lead Shinra to victory against Wutai. I had no reason to want to help someone who had helped make him—make_ him? What is he, a _science project?_ Look, mommy, I grew a person and his name is Sephiroth!_—and I almost turned away, but—**save me… please?**—a broken whisper, a plea with no real hope behind it—

Almost without thinking, I turned back to the door and shoved the key in the lock, turning it so that it opened with a satisfying click. I could hear Cait Sith saying something under his breath—cursing?—but I didn't care. I stepped forward into the room.

—and stumbled back out immediately, overwhelmed by the sudden barrage of guilthatredragesadnessloneliness_anger—_

"Oh, gawd," I said, pushing myself up off the floor where I had fallen. "There are _skeletons_ in _coffins_. I saw _dead people._" I didn't want to admit, even to myself, that I wouldn't be able to enter this room without being hit, _hard_, by the emotions that lay in it.

Barret clapped one hand—his _only_ hand—on my shoulder before walking past into the room. "Well, kid, if you're going to be squeamish, you can wait outside then, huh?"

I wanted to throw something at him, but since the only thing handy—my shuriken—was sharp and would likely be fatal, I had to resist. I _did_ grab Cloud's arm as he walked past and asked him to do me a favor and punch Barret for me, and he laughed. He also didn't punch Barret, but I hadn't really thought he would.

Aeris followed Cloud into the room, but Tifa stayed—"I'd prefer not to, thanks"—Red shrugged and stayed where he was, and Cait Sith stood still. _Really_ still. I wasn't sure if he was angry, but I couldn't hear someone beg like that and _not_ help. Even if it _was_ just a memory. Standing there by the open door, we could hear snatches of the conversation—"—were having a nightmare—"—but otherwise we were pretty much totally in the dark. In more ways than one, because the _hallway_ was pretty freaking dark, too. I stood and listened to the heartbeat in my head.

Finally, the three who had entered returned—by themselves.

"That was—Vincent Valentine," Cloud said, looking a bit put out. "Apparently he was in love with the woman who gave birth to Sephiroth."

"Wait—you mean that's Sephiroth's _father_ in there?" I squeaked, looking into the dim room in alarm. "Is he—?"

"No, I don't think he is… It didn't sound like he is, anyway. What he said is that he's there to atone," Aeris said, and shook her head. "He blames himself for the death of Sephiroth's mother."

"So—wait." I frowned. "Basically, he crawled in there wanting to die and then someone locked the door after him?"

"He didn't talk much," Barret grunted.

"Oh…"

"Come on," Cloud said, once again in Badass Who Does Not Feel mode. "He told us to leave him alone, and we still need to find Sephiroth. Let's stop wasting time."

Making various sounds of agreements, the others followed Cloud further down the hallway. I lingered for a few seconds, until they far enough away, and then called softly into the room, "You're a fool, you know." I closed the door after me and hurried after the rest of my group.

I knew he heard me, because there was a jolt in the rhythm of the heartbeat I heard.

"Here's where I found Sephiroth five years ago," Cloud said grimly, opening a door into a room and—**you let her _die_, Hojo! You didn't even care she was dying! It's your fault—if you hadn't—**

**It was all Lucrecia's idea. I had nothing to do with it—**

"Yuffie?" The voice came from far away and I couldn't—**you know, this is the first time I've done this sort of experiment on a man as strong as you—**"Are you alright?"—**President Shinra was always so stingy; never let me have any of the SOLDIERs, only weak slum men— I guess a _Turk_ is better than nothing—**

"Yuffie. Answer me."

—**I've given you some _friends_. I can tell you've met one, haven't you? The others won't come out, not yet, but I know you can feel them lurking—**

"Yuffie!"

—**I know that you promised her you wouldn't touch me—are your promises only good until death? Maybe you didn't even wait until she was _dead _to come after me—**

_oh god he _shot me—**someone save me… please?—**

—**lock you here and you'll never get out—**

—**let me out, let me out oh _god I hate this—_**

—**I deserve this—**

—**just let me sleep.**

I ran.

I could hear voices, but I couldn't hear the words—overwhelmed by painangerlusthatreddeath and **I'll show the world what you _really _are** and—

I hit something and stumbled backwards. Warm fingers gripped my shoulder—_cold fingers on my throat_—long and slender—_short and thick_—steadying me—_strangling me—_

I whimpered, and—


	8. Eyebrow Envy

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

_Notes: After this chapter, I'm going to cut my updates downto once a week. This is, of course, because it's the first week of classes, and I won't have as much time to write as I had._

_Just a heads up._

* * *

"_Listen to me _carefully_, Yuffie—in a few years, something will change. You will start hearing things, feeling things that don't belong to you—but don't worry. I know you can handle it, you will grow up to be as strong as the stone of Da Chao—_

"_But be careful, because the stronger it is within you, the worse—"_

I sat up, both hands planted over my mouth. I was trying to keep from sobbing—my _mother_—

And then, suddenly, someone was hugging me, holding me _just like Mother used to—_

I broke.

--

It was nighttime, and I was sitting beside a campfire in the Nibelheim Mountains, examining the side of my ankle in an attempt to find what was so sore.

After I'd cried myself back to sleep in Tifa's arms, which was horribly embarrassing and _I don't want to talk about it_, I woke later to find it just after dawn the day after we went into Nibelheim. That was when I found out that people had taken turns sitting with me (which is creepy, when you think about it, because there were _guys_ and I was _unconscious._)

Oh, and I was formally introduced to Vintage Capitalist-holiday.

What?

Oh, fine.

I was introduced to Vincent Valentine.

That guy was _Creepy_ with a _capital C_, and looked _just like those vampires from stories._ He was also the source of the heartbeat in my head.

Damn it.

Anyway. We set out, and I didn't really relax until after we stopped for lunch and Tifa _still_ hadn't said anything about me _so totally not crying_. (Can you blame me, though? I hadn't had a chance to get to know her yet.)

After lunch, I pulled Aeris and Tifa from a protesting Cloud—"_Girl talk_. Go get into a belching contest with Barret or something."—and we dropped back.

Once we were (hopefully) far enough away we wouldn't be overheard, I brought to Aeris' attention the problem of Vampire Boy's heartbeat _in my head_.

She shook her head. "I can't help you, Yuffie," she said regretfully. "The Spirit Sight is close enough to the Cetra's powers that I can protect you, but it's not close enough that I can help you train it…"

I turned to Tifa, hopeful, but she wasn't any help, either. "Sorry, Yuffie. All I can think of are stories my mother used to tell me, and I doubt you'd be interested in destiny and true love, right?"

I pulled a truly impressive face and they both laughed.

We almost hiked _up until sunset_ because Cloud is a slave driver, a _slave driver_ I tell you. But finally we stopped (Tifa won our impromptu contest to see who could get him to stop—"Cloud, if you don't find us a campsite _right this minute,_ I swear to god—")

I fumbled with my tent—who _designed_ those damn things? They don't make _sense_—and then sat down by the fire, where I promptly pulled off my shoes and tried to find a blister.

Finally I looked up at Cloud and put a pitiful look on my face. He didn't buy it.

"Cloud?" He grunted. Of course in Cloud-speech, that means "Yes, Yuffie? You know I'm waiting eagerly for your slightest beck and call." But it was no time to get distracted. "I need new shoes."

"So buy some." I stared at him, doing my best to convey "I do not understand what you speak of when you say 'pay for it yourself'". To me? Spending sparingly means getting other people to pay for you.

Finally he sighed in exasperation. "Fine. One pair _only_."

"Thank you!"

"You know, Cloud…" Aeris spoke up, "maybe we ought to get Yuffie some more clothes, too…"

"Yeah!" I cheered, and then paused. "Wait, what's wrong with the clothes I've got?"

"Don't get me wrong, green works well with your complexion. But I was thinking that maybe red would look good on you—"

"Black," Tifa said, leaning forward. "You're not pale at all, so it wouldn't make you look washed out."

From there it went on to make-up, and as the guys tuned them out, I listened with growing horror until I couldn't contain myself anymore and blurted out, "You want to do _what_ _with my eyebrows?"_

--

"Ugh," I announced, rolling over in my sleeping bag _again_. It was a dramatic performance, but there was no one in the audience, given I had a tent to myself—lucky me. Maybe if there _had_ been someone here, the breathing would have gotten me to fall asleep.

Of course, there's always the chance that I would keep _them_ awake—but if that was the case, at least Tifa had some status magic, and Aeris—well, that staff of hers would come in handy to knock me out with.

Finally I just gave up and went to sit by the fire, which was burning down a bit, which led to it being colder, which led to me shivering, which led to me pulling the small blanket I had grabbed on the way out of my tent closer. Hah. I am _always_ prepared.

I don't know how long it was before I realized oh _crap_ there's _glowing red eyes there_—oh, yeah, that would be Vincent.

I tumbled backwards with a squeak, wondering how the _hell _I had not noticed him with that red cloak thing on. And if I wasn't mistaken, there was a hint of amusement on his face when he looked at me.

"Oh my _gawd_ where did you come from?" I asked, my voice high pitched—which was _not good at all_. I cleared my throat and pushed myself up.

Vintage—I _refuse _to call him by name at the moment—didn't reply, unless you call a raised eyebrow a reply. _I _don't.

"Hey. You." I paused, and he _still _didn't reply. "Vampire film reject. _Tall, dark, and angsty._ Answer me."

"…I have been sitting here the entire time," he replied, and _wouldn't you know _that's the longest thing he's ever said to me? Go figure.

I stuck my tongue out at him and huffed. "I knew that."

His _other_ eyebrow arched up to join the first one.

…_I want eyebrows that can do that_. Note to self: park in front of the next mirror you find and _practice._

It was quiet then, but one of the things I learned after the forest was the joy of _talking_. Even if all the person you were talking to did was raise eyebrows in your general direction.

"Hey, hey, Vinnie, you're the one I ran into yesterday, right?" He blinked, but I kept talking. I didn't care if he was blinking about the fact I'd just randomly started talking, or the fact I called him 'Vinnie'. "Anyone think to tell you why?"

"…do not call me that."

I grinned and ignored him. "Anyway, Vinnie, I've got something the Wutai call Spirit Sight—though _that_ implies I can see stuff, and ghosts at that—do you think ghosts exist? Anyway. The deal with Spirit Sight is that I can _hear stuff_. Like, if someone walks past a pink house every day for weeks then I could hear them thinking 'that place is an eyesore', or—or—hey, in that mansion, I heard someone talking about giving someone else friends, d'you know anything about that?"

There was dead silence after that, and it felt _wrong_. I turned to look at him and saw that his head was bowed, and _his claw was_ _digging into his other arm_.

"Hey—are you all right?" I asked, concerned.

Vincent stood and stalked away, and for a few seconds I could only stare at the place he'd been sitting.

"…did I say something wrong?"


	9. Acquiring A Cig And A Tiny Bronco

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

It took a while to get through the mountains, and more fights with monsters than I wanted to count. I wonder where monsters come from? Even if you sit in one place and just _kill them_, more show up. 

…That's something to think about. But not right now.

Anyway. I worked on endearing myself to everyone, and I'm absolutely _positive_ it worked. Yeah. Barret yelled at me because he cares.

What? I've already mentioned how much I like trying to deceive myself.

Vincent, as The Other Newcomer, deserves a mention—but all he did was shoot at things and lurk in the shadows at the edge of camp.

He's a good shot.

Sparkling conversationalist? …not so much.

Given that generally all he does is _raise his eyebrows._

Damn it, I have _eyebrow envy_.

Vampire boys aside, I decided the best course of action would be to see if we came near Wutai, and then make it up as I went.

Because, _damn it_, I don't want to steal from these people. They were starting to become my friends.

And _I_ _hate not knowing what to do_. That's the only thing that was good about the forest—all I had to worry about was surviving. I didn't have to worry about the morals of stealing from people who were slowly becoming friends.

We got up, we broke camp, we walked all day with a short stop for lunch, we made camp, and then went to sleep. Fighting monsters the whole time. Uphill both ways!

--

One fight with a _huge_ monster later, we were _out_ of the Nibel mountains and back on flat ground. Minus the buggy. Which sucked, because vomit-express though it was, it was _fast_ and we could cover a lot more ground in a day than we could on foot.

So it took _more_ time until we were back to civilization, even though it was a collection of houses around a leaning rocket thing.

What is _up_ with that? …The nose of it, hahaha. But, lame jokes aside, shouldn't it have fallen over? I mean, it's a _huge rocket. _It's, like, _really tall_. Shouldn't the sheer _weight of it_ make it fall over?

For that matter, if it ever _is_ sent off, won't the houses be blown all to hell?

Anyway. Rocket Town. Leading town of… um… rocketry, lead by the crazy Captain Cig.

…Cid, fine!

Anyway. We wandered around town. I found a small general store that had some shoes, and can I complain about the fact that I have very proper Wutain feet? That is to say, small for my height. In fact, the only thing that fit me were a pair of yellow shoes.

Which were _children's_ shoes, which might explain the coloring.

Might.

…I mean, _yellow?_

I gave my worn sneakers one last mournful look before they became garbage can food, and walked out in my bright new shoes. They fit, so that's all that matters, right?

Shut up.

Before I went in search of the others, I paused to write a short note to my father to leave with one of traders, if I saw one. And as luck would have it, I promptly ran into one.

Maybe yellow is a lucky color for me?

--

I was going to take a closer look at the Leaning Tower of Rocket when I heard someone bellowing.

"Sit your ass _down in that chair_ and drink your goddamn _tea_!"

I blinked, and backtracked to the door of the last house I had passed, fully intending to knock, but the yeller—well, yelled. More.

"Shera! I'll be out tuning up the Tiny Bronco! Serve them _tea, damn it!_"

I blinked and finally tapped on the door like I'd been intending to, and after a quick murmuring of voices, Mister Blonde Porcupine Who Uses a Sword That Is As Tall As Me If Not Taller opened the door. "Ah, Yuffie, hi," he said, then scratched the back of his head. I was just as confused.

Hey, if you're traveling with someone, and split up to explore the town and then you're invited into someone's house, do you invite your friend—companion—whatever—in? _Can_ you invite them in?

However, before we had to figure that out ourselves, a brunette with glasses came over to the open door. "Oh, Cloud, is this a friend of yours?" When he nodded, she gestured for me to enter. "Don't just stand there, come in, come in! It won't take any effort to get out another cup for tea—"

"Shera, really, you don't need to—" Tifa said, but the woman—Shera, apparently—cut her off.

"No, no, it's no problem at all."

--

One Long Story later, Mister Yells A Lot stormed in and—well—yelled. Because Shera had gotten distracted by her long story and hadn't given us tea.

And then a fat guy burst through the wall and went "OH YEAH."

Well, he didn't burst through the wall. He came in the door. And he didn't go "OH YEAH", he said an obnoxious "HEY-HEY". That was, to me, _worse_.

…he _was_ fat, though.

Cigarette Addict went outside. Cloud and the others followed, and I decided to tag along, given that I did _not_ want to be in the same room as someone who worked for Shinra. Besides, the guy asked for _lard in his tea._

_Yeah_. Gross, isn't it?

So we went outside, and it took me all of _five seconds_ to realize that oh _crap that's the PRESIDENT OF SHINRA._

I would have figured it out sooner, but I was too distracted thinking that he was really kinda cute.

Which was sick and _wrong_ and oh my _gawd_ I was going to hell.

Shera walked up behind us, and after a brief exchange with Cloud, he herded us back through the house to a little yard where a plane was. And Lard Man was…doing something to it.

"Why do _I_ have to do this?" He whined, head deep in the cockpit. I had to giggle at the echoing sound of his voice. "I'm the _head _of the _Space Program_, there are plenty more people Rufus could send to take a plane than _me…_"

"We're going to take the Tiny Bronco," Cloud said, channeling Badass like never before.

The guy pulled his head out and turned to squint at us. "You… where have I seen you before…?" I could almost hear a clock ticking—_don't think too hard, fathead!_ "You—from the President's office!"

As Cloud nodded, I was wondering how the heck they'd gotten into the office of the President of Shinra. And what they'd been doing there. At least, I would _think_ it was the President of Shinra they're talking about. Because, Shinra dude, Cloud and Buddies from Midgar—

I missed the fight, brief as it was. Because the Man of Fat got ran over. By a Shinra truck. No joke.

And then Barret was grabbing my by the collar of my shirt, tossing me up onto the wing of the plane—which was _moving—_

--

We were on a plane that couldn't be used as anything except as a boat now and I was _sick like whoa._


	10. Cloud Hits People With Large Airplanes

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

I had _never_ felt more glad in my life than when Cloud and Barret jumped off the wings of the Tiny Bronco, splashing through the water to push it further up onto the shore. I didn't even wait for them to get all the way to land, just tumbled off of my perch and landed with a splash in the water, getting _completely_ soaked, but I didn't care. I pushed myself up to my feet and heard Aeris call for me to be careful— 

I nearly hit my head on the wing of the plane as I stood.

Spike called back over his shoulder, asking if I were okay. I replied by saying if he was angry at me, he could _say_ so, instead of trying to beat me over the head with large airplanes, and staggered onto dry land.

Even _there_ the world continued to _move_. Which was ridiculous. Because everyone knows that sand doesn't have waves.

"Aeris…" I moaned, and kept nausea at bay with just the strength of my will. "You managed to block everything _else_ and couldn't get the _physical_ effects?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, frowning.

"_This,_" I said, gesturing towards the Tiny Bronco. "I never got seasick—never got _motion sick_—not until the Spirit Sight appeared."

She frowned. "You hadn't? I thought that was something of yours…" When I shook my head, Aeris looked thoughtful. "Perhaps you ought to ask your father about it?"

"I will, but…" I shrugged and looked around. I froze. "Hey, uh, Cloud, any idea where we are?" I didn't really need to ask.

He didn't know, but Vinnie Vinnie Valentine did.

"We're at the south end of the island of Wutai."

Oh my _gawd._

--

After that, uh, _pleasant_ announcement, I did everything I could to take my mind off of it—which included trying to get the others to let me try out their weapons of choice. I still didn't know what I was going to do, and I wanted to put it off as long as I could.

"Vinnie, please please please, can I?" I asked, even though he'd already given me a _look_ that said no. "Pleeeeeease, can I just _hold_ your gun?"

His hand twitched on the end of the gun—I don't know what it would be called—and I suddenly remembered that he _used to be a Turk_. Oh crap.

"Uh, never mind—" I started to say as he pulled it out, but all he did was remove the bullets before handing it to me. I looked at briefly before giving it back.

_I'm not a fool_. I'd probably come close to pissing off one of the former assassins of Shinra, and I sure as hell didn't want to wake up _dead_ one morning.

Well, if I were dead I wouldn't wake up. I think.

And Vinnie seems more like the type who would just shoot someone if they were annoying them—but even Turks have to be careful about who they kill, right? I mean—

Speaking of Turks, the man who used to be one was speaking—always a rare occasion, though it was happening more often now—which caught my attention.

"What, exactly, are you attempting to achieve by this?" Wow. He can sound inquiring—call the press!

"Uh—by what?" I asked, and it wasn't convincing or confident at _all._

He just gave me a Look.

"I—don't want to talk about it." I stood and went to go find someone else to talk to, and I could almost swear I could feel him watching me go.

I've already mentioned that he's creepy, right? Good.

Because he _is_.

--

—_fingers around my throat, cold and thick—_**gave you some _friends_**—

I gasped and sat upright, unable to place where I was until one hand found the cloth side of my tent.

I couldn't figure out _why_ one of the memories from the Shinra mansion had gotten linked to my nightmare—_memory—_but I didn't want to think about it, so I went to sit by the fire. Red looked up from where he lay.

"Good evening, Yuffie," he said, and blinked that one eye at me. "Can't sleep?"

I smiled at the sympathy in his voice. Liondogthing though he was, he was nice to me, even if I wouldn't call him my best friend. "Bad dream," I replied, and plopped down beside him. "Hey… Red?"

"Yes?"

"What's your opinion of thieves?" He went stiff and looked at me. "I mean, when I was first trying to get accustomed to having the Spirit Sight, I lost a lot of my supplies when I got overwhelmed, and I ended up stealing because I didn't have the money to buy new stuff. And I stowed away on a boat from Costa del Sol to get to Junon, which is kind of like thievery, I guess." It was all true—but I hadn't said anything about the part I really wanted to know—_would you guys forgive me if I stole your Materia?_—and I waited as he thought about it.

"I believe that all stealing is wrong, but there are cases in which it can be forgiven," he finally replied, flicking his tail.

"Like mine?"

"Like yours. And those who must steal in order to be able to eat. Regardless, stealing is wrong. I believe that if you were able to find those you stole from, you should pay them back for what you stole."

I sat and thought about that, and finally sat alone when Red said his watch was over—"No, you don't need to wake up Tifa—I don't think I'll be able to get back to sleep."

Finally I looked into the dying fire and nodded.

I knew what I had to do.


	11. Materia and Related Difficulties

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

I looked around, making sure I hadn't left anything behind, and then set off, feeling queasy. I didn't like this— 

But at least I hadn't taken _all_ of their Materia.

I'd also left the money that Dad had given me, along with a note—_I'm sorry. I had to do this_.

I stayed as quiet as I could until I was out of earshot, then started running. I knew most of the paths here, though not well, and if I were lucky I'd be able to find a Chocobo.

I was _betraying them—_

But it was for Wutai. I'd sworn to—

—they trusted me and I was turning my back on that—

—swore to find a way to bring back our pride—

—turning my back on Aeris' help, and Cloud's _almost_ brotherliness, when he wasn't being the resident badass—

—return us to the old days, the good days—

—Tifa's quick wit and quicker smile, Cait Sith's weird fortunes—

—the days from all the stories, the days I'd never known—

I felt sick. I hated myself at that moment, but I had to do this.

I _had _to.

--

I stumbled into Wutai later, completely exhausted, but knowing that none of the others had the knowledge of the paths through my country that I had. I let myself into my room, only to be woken a few hours later by my father.

"Yuffie! What are you doing back?" he asked, sounding both delighted and slightly apprehensive. "Where are the people you were going to travel with? You didn't leave them to find a place to stay for themselves, did you?" I must have flinched, because he suddenly looked grave. "What happened?"

"Oh, gawd they're going to _kill me for this,_" was the first thing I said, and my father, frowning, ordered me to explain. I pulled over the bag of Materia and dipped one hand into it, pulling out the small spheres and showing them to him.

He looked horrified. "Yuffie, what did you—"

And then I realized that the heartbeat in my head sounded almost as loud as it had when I had been in the camp before I'd left. "Oh, gawd they're_ here._"

--

I was in the throne room, putting the Materia into sockets as quickly as I could, when I heard shouting from the entrance. I continued working until it was almost on top of me, and then spun and headed for the throne, reaching it just as Cloud stalked in.

He looked _furious_, and I almost cowered before I forced my shoulders back and my chin up. I may have been terrified, but Leviathan curse it, I had a reason to steal from them. "Cloud," I said, and grimaced when it came out a squeak. _I'm not scared I'm not scared I'm not scared…_ "Welcome to my hometown." _That_ came out sounding a little more normal. But not by much.

The others had trailed in, Tifa looking hurt, Aeris disapproving—_I hadn't even touched her Materia_—Red angry, Cait Sith—who can _tell_ with a cat?—Barret and Cid both fuming, and Vincent—blank. But there was such a _lack_ of emotion there I had to flinch thinking about how he must about the situation.

Cloud started walking forward, and the hand I had been resting against the arm of the chair tightened on it. Almost without conscious thought, I had called a barrier up between him and me. It wouldn't be enough to stop him—not if he were _really_ intent on getting to me—but it would slow him down.

"Yuffie," Cloud growled, straining against the barrier. "Give back our Materia."

"Oh, you don't even _ask_?" I burst out, terrified. "You don't even ask _why _I stole it?"

"I don't _need to_," he replied, even angrier, if that was possible. "You're just a thief—"

"Oh, _shut up!_" I screamed, feeling tears coming to my eyes. "You didn't even _look_, did you? You didn't _look_ when you entered Wutai—you didn't notice the tourists—_tourists! _Shinra _ruined us_, they made us into a—a _tourist trap_, a place for them to come and _waste their money_. No one has any _pride_ anymore—" I paused, rubbing at my eyes, trying to choke down the sobs. "_My mother _was killed by Shinra, by a SOLDIER, and if my father hadn't—hadn't come—"

—_fingers tightening on my throat, cold and short and thick, a face above me, splattered with blood—_my mother's _blood—_

"Yuffie—" I shook my head, cutting Tifa off.

"It's no use explaining to you, is it? You're all from Midgar, or you worked for Shinra—you don't know what it's _like_ when the old women refuse to answer if you speak to them in the native tongue, even though they can barely speak anything else—or when the young men leave to work for _Shinra_." I had to laugh, but it was short and humorless. "No, none of you understand, do you?"

"Shinra stole from Leviathan's Crown, then?" I looked up to meet Vincent's eyes, and nodded.

"They took everything—_all _of the Materia. The only thing that they didn't get was Leviathan himself, because my father—the old man—had that one with him."

He nodded as if that was what he had expected, but didn't say anything further. Tifa had pulled Barret aside and was speaking to him in a low, intense voice. Cloud had turned to look at the wall, but he seemed to be listening to what Tifa was talking to Barret about. Eventually the others moved into a circle with them as well, and they all talked. Before Red had joined them, though, he walked to the barrier and looked at me steadily.

"This is why you asked me about thieves, isn't it?" he asked, though it sounded like he already knew the answer. I nodded, feeling exhausted and defeated. "I believe that in this case… it might be forgivable." With a nod to me, he turned and joined the circle.

I sighed and slumped against the wall behind me, slipping down into a seated position, grimacing as carvings dug into my back.

"Yuffie?" I looked up to see Aeris looking at me. "Is there a place we could stay for tonight? We'll need to discuss this, and—"

"Yes, there is," I replied, getting to my feet again and reaching for the rope that would summon someone. A girl who was slightly younger than me stepped into the room quickly, and her eyes went wide at the large group standing in front of her—or maybe the liondogthing and the talking cat on a Moogle doll.

"Could you get Gorki or Checkhov or someone, please?" I asked her, and grimaced when she looked at me and jumped.

"O-of course, Lady Kisaragi!" she said, exiting the room at something close to a run.

I looked back to them again to see everyone had turned to look at me, various degrees of disbelief on their faces. "What, you hadn't figured it out yet? My father is Godo Kisaragi, Lord of Wutai."

--

Gorki was the one who came, and after a brief exchange—"Before I left, I asked my father about fixing my mother's family's house, did that ever happen?"—and a yes for an answer, Cloud and the others were escorted to the ancestral Suijindo home—on the other side of town. There had been a brief disagreement, because Cloud wanted the Materia returned _right away_ and I argued that they ought to start discussing what they were going to do _right away_, so that I could know what I had to expect sooner than if they stuck around waiting for me to get all the Materia down.

After I got the last piece out, I bowed before Leviathan and the throne, praying silently that everything would work out.

I was passing what _had_ been a Materia store, back when we still _had_ Materia to sell, when I heard an almost _slimy _sounding voice say, "Her."

I looked up to see a man running towards me, and I reached for my shuriken in reflex only to remember I had left it in my _room_—

I only had time to scream before the man's fist hit me on the side of my head—


	12. ExDon of the Slums

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

I groaned and tried to reach up to rub my head, but I found couldn't move my arm more than a few inches. I opened my eyes, and immediately thanked Leviathan that I hadn't been afraid of heights before today. I realized I could hear someone talking, and I gratefully took the opportunity to look elsewhere from the drop below one of the Faces of Da Chao. 

"—oh, Elena, you're _pathetic_—letting your guard down because you didn't _see_ anything? You're supposed to be a _Turk—_what were you _thinking?_" The voice was coming from a blonde wearing a dark blue suit, and after she was through with chewing someone—herself?—out, she started cursing fiercely. I listened with fascination, as she was spouting out all _kinds_ of words I hadn't known existed, then shook myself.

"Hey—what happened?" I asked, and she jerked around to look at me.

"Oh—awake, are you? Don Corneo is what happened." Her face twisted up in anger and she went back to her swearing, expanding on the lineage of Don Corneo in _volumes_, and what she was going to do to him when she got free, _by god_.

"Ooooh, so my two little birds are both awake?" came a voice—the same slimy one I remembered from before getting knocked out—followed by a man who was both fat _and _greasy. "Elena, you've been spending _far_ too much time with those ill-mannered Turks—won't you reconsider my _generous _proposal?"

She spat at him, even though he was too far away for her to hit him. "I'd rather _die_ first, Corneo!"

He got an ugly look on that pig-face of his and said dangerously, "That could be arranged." And then in a flash his face had a smile on it, an oily smile that made me feel dirty with just having it turned in my direction. "And what about you, little bird?"

"I swear to Leviathan if you don't let me go _you will regret it._"

"Oh? And what could you do from there?" he asked, looking amused.

I sneered. "It's not what _I_ could do," I replied, and tilted my head towards the path. "It's what _they_ can do."

He turned, and paled when he saw a group of avenging angels swooping down on him—well, not so much as swooping as running, and not quite angels, as they were all human. Oh, and one liondogthing.

"Corneo, I would have thought you would remember what we told you the _last_ time we met," Cloud said. He didn't even mess up the delivery by having to catch his breath.

I fought for a second against the ropes keeping me in place, knowing I still had the Materia in the bag tied to a belt loop. I looked frantically until I caught someone's eye, and Tifa shook her head slightly and mouthed "don't worry", and I relaxed a bit.

That is, until Mister Pig's next sentence.

"Oh? I think you're underestimating me." He did something to an object in his hand, and—

"_Oh gawd,"_ I wailed as the ropes holding my arms suddenly snapped. I hit the stone of the Face, hard. I groaned before looking to see what was happening on the path.

"I've got a new pet for you to play with, as well! Just remember, I've got the lives of these two in my hand!"

I watched anxiously as they began to fight. It took a few seconds of wringing my hands to realize that they were _free_, and—

I gasped, then laughed, and began to grin evilly. I started to untie the knot of the bag holding the Materia.

"What are you _doing_?" Elena hissed. "They aren't doing well against that thing."

I ignored her, opening the bag carefully and reaching into it with one hand, holding the mouth of the bag with the other and laying one finger on the yellow Materia I had placed in my armor.

Cloud swore as one of the Materia hit him, and I grimaced. "Sorry!" I called, getting another one out and focusing on where I wanted it to go.

Soon I had a steady stream of Materia being Thrown to the people fighting on the path, and they were stooping to pick them up and equip them.

After I got all the mastered Materia to them, I started hitting the "pet" with the weak, unmastered Materia—I didn't have to be _quite_ that careful aiming.

That's my excuse for hitting Cloud again, anyway.

…hey, he _deserved it!_

When it was finally empty, I relaxed against the worn rock and let the bag go.

"Well, girl," Elena said grudgingly, and I turned to look at her. "You've got _guts_."

I grinned, and opened my mouth to reply—

But a shrill shriek broke through the air.

Don Corneo's "pet" was writhing on the stone pathway, and standing above it was something _large and purple—_

Large and purple and blue, and _horned_. Blood dripped from the jaws of it, and it stuck its fanged face into Corneo's face and _snarled._

And then—

"Oh my _gawd_," I muttered, my eyes going wide. "_Vinnie?_"

But it was true, Vincent Valentine stood there, right where the beast had, staggering as if his body was unfamiliar, as if he couldn't balance himself—_and now I knew what had been meant by being given '_friends'—

Then he looked down at his claw armand planted his feet. "You are quite a foolish man," he said.

"I couldn't agree more," said a voice, and a red-haired man in a suit the same shade as Elena's walked up. "If you don't mind?" he said, squinting up at Vincent.

Vincent stepped aside.

"_Reno," _Elena muttered in exasperation.

"Now, Corneo, did you think we wouldn't find you? You should have known better, _especially_ after leaking secrets like that." The man's voice oozed with bitter humor. "Now, why do you think we would do such a thing?"

"B—because I kidnapped one of your fellow Turks?" Corneo squeaked, pushing himself backwards.

"Wrong. Rude, blow the charges," the red-head said, stepping back a few steps. Vincent had already stepped back, but no one was coming near him.

There were a series of short bursts which resulted in the end of the trail, where Corneo cowered, breaking off. He scrambled forward, trying to get off of the falling stone, but a gunshot rang out—

"Good shot, Elena," the man said, watching as Don Corneo's body fell, no longer moving.

I goggled at the gun in her hands. "Where did _that_ come from?" Small as it was, I couldn't see _anywhere_ it could have been kept.

She grinned like a cat that'd gotten in the bird cage. "It's a good thing I'm well endowed."

--

I was perched on the bar in Turtle's Paradise, watching two roosters circle each other. Only… not. Because, one, neither were birds. And two, one was Cloud and the other was Reno. They _did_ have fine crests of hair, though!

Plus, they _were_ circling like a pair of roosters that were about to fight.

"Hey," I said, _loudly._ "If you're going to fight, would you hold off for an hour? I want to sell tickets."

They both turned to look at me, and shook their heads. At the _same time_, I swear. We're not dealing with Cloud and Reno anymore, we've got some kind of Cloud-and-Reno amalgam type person on our hands—amalgam is a _fun word_, by the way. And while I was distracted, they went back to staring at each other, but they didn't look like they were about to fight anymore—which is _sad_, because I could have used the money.

"What are you planning to do now?" Cloud asked Reno, sounding like the thing that would make him happiest would be for Reno and Elena and the bald guy to walk out of Wutai _that minute_.

And, okay, they're _Turks_, and they work for _Shinra_, but they've got to have _some_ honor, right? I mean, they came for Elena. And they helped me by extension.

So me? I didn't mind them so much. Even if they _did_ work for Shinra.

…Hey, maybe Shinra's got their families as hostages! So they don't have any _choice_ about working for Shinra!

I tried to think about Reno and that one quiet guy working for Shinra because their families were hostages, and had to stop because, even if I didn't know them at _all_, they didn't seem the type to do that. Now, _Elena_ I could see—wait, no, I_ can't_.

And while I was giving myself a headache imagining that, Reno had gone and replied and I'd _missed it._

Damn it.

Elena straightened up, not an easy task given she was _already_ sitting up straight—she's got _perfect posture_, I swear. "No one has given us new orders?" she asked, sounding a bit alarmed.

"Not—" he paused and reached into a pocket, pulling out a phone. "Reno," he barked into it, the personification of annoyance. The annoyance turned to a frown as he listened. "Understood, sir," he said before hanging up.

Cloud and the others had gone still, and were looking at Reno like he was a snake that was about to strike. Or something. I didn't know why.

"What are our new orders?" the quiet guy—the bald one—I never _did_ hear his name—asked.

"Locate and remove the threat of Cloud Strife and his group," he replied, watching as Cloud put one hand on the _freaking huge sword_.

"And?"

"I told you, we're on vacation. Besides," he said, turning and heading for the door. "I haven't seen them anywhere around here."

Elena looked startled and a bit annoyed as the bald guy followed Reno out the door, and stood up herself. Pausing at the door, she waved before leaving. "Reno! _Rude!_ Wait for me!"

I frowned. "That's not _fair—_I was going to invite them to the festival that the old man is throwing for you guys—I mean, _they_ helped, too!"

"Why would you invite _them_ to a…" Tifa began, and paused. She looked thoughtful.

"…festival?" Aeris finished, and glanced over at Tifa, who looked back at her. They turned to face me, smiles on their faces.

"What kind of clothes will we need?"


	13. Turks Suck

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

_**Notes**: Happy Valentine's Day! (a day early.)_

_Breathe is now dedicated to my LJ-wife, Nagia._

* * *

I had to laugh at Cloud. 

I really, really did. I couldn't help it.

Not only did he look _ridiculous_ in the outfit we'd found for him, he couldn't seem to decide who to be more jealous of—the half-naked guy who was beating on a gong that Aeris was staring at, or the half-naked guy who was beating on a gong that _Tifa_ was staring at.

Aeris and Tifa were drooling.

As I said, I _had to laugh_.

I excused myself from the others, because being loud and cheerful and a _woman_ don't go together in Wutai.

It's going to be one of the things I'll change when I rule.

Because, you know what? I _refuse_ to be a perfect, silent, breathing _statue_ for some _ass_ of a husband who would be the one who ruled _my country_.

Because it's _my_ country. I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, the heir to the only two remaining great houses in Wutai.

This is _my_ country, and _I_ will be the one to rule it.

--

I stood and stared up at what remained of the Suijindo house—I could remember That Night, and the flames—

I shook that out of my head.

After That Night, what had remained stable of the house was repaired. Maybe, if I didn't have the Spirit Sight, or if I had managed to get home after it started affecting me, I might have moved into it—I love my father, I _do_, but we really can't avoid fighting.

A slight brush against my leg startled me, and I looked down to see a battered tabby looking up at me. The cat mewled hopefully and blinked—_oh my gawd how _cute—so I reached down to pick her up. Cat fur on my clothes be _damned_.

The cat curled up in my arms and just _purred_, kneading my arm when I didn't get around to petting her fast enough.

I stood there for a few more minutes before turning to return to the festival—_can't let them be without the heir for too long—_and suddenly the cat stiffened in my arms, her purr cut off like it had never been. Then she was gone, leaping out of my arms and disappearing into the shadows.

Reno and that other guy—Rude, Elena had called him?—stood there, looking cool and calm, like they were just taking a midnight walk. _Yeah right._

"C-can I help you?" I asked, and cursed to myself about the stutter.

"Yuffie Kisaragi," Reno said, something like a frown flickering over his face. "You would be advised to come with us."

"Why _should _I?" I replied, and flinched. These guys were _Turks_. I swallowed and took a step back. Reno smiled bitterly.

"Orders," Rude said, speaking up shortly. I looked at him—damn _sunglasses_—and shivered.

I opened my mouth to reply, but a bitter—_brittle_—laugh interrupted me.

"Elena knows. She's not happy. But orders are orders, especially when they come from Professor Hojo."

Rude took a step forward.

"I wouldn't, if I were you." Silk and steel in a voice that was as flat as a sheet of glass, as cold and frigid as the peaks of the Nibel mountains.

Vincent stood from his seat by a wall—how long had he_ been there?_—and put his hand on the end of his gun. I wasn't the only one who was startled, as Rude's eyebrows jumped up his forehead and Reno swore.

"Who are you to stop us?" Reno said, ignoring what seemed to be Rude trying to get his attention.

Vinnie did that eyebrow thing—_gawd I wish I could do that!—_and the slightest smile curved his mouth. "Vincent Valentine," he replied.

Reno swore again, more profusely this time, and backed away. Rude was already almost to the exit, as he didn't seem to feel like sticking around to hear who Vincent was. Maybe he already _knew_.

"We'll be back," Reno said before turning and running, sounding more like a bully who had been interrupted then a member of the Turks.

Vincent turned to look at me briefly before he turned to leave. I went from _scared_ to _furious_ in the time it took him to take a step.

"Hey!" I cried, stomping up to him. "What do you think you're _doing_, missing my festival? _You'd better come and get _drunk_, damn it, so I have some stuff to blackmail you with!_ Also! Why didn't you _tell us_ about the—the—that _thing_, with the wolf-dude!"

He looked at me, bewildered. He opened his mouth, but I just kept going.

"I mean _come on_. Obviously that's what that thing about _friends_ was about, and _honestly_. I told you about my Spirit Sight, so the _least_ you could do would be return the favor!"

His face went cold and closed and _dangerous_, but I didn't _care._ He'd _hidden things_ and I was _furious_ and I wanted to know _why_.

I wanted him to _react_.

And he did.

But I'd pushed too hard for a reaction.

"And what was I _supposed _to say? I have a—_condition—_where I _transform _because a maniac forced_ demons_ into my mind?" he hissed, his arm reaching out and grabbing my arm roughly—_cold and hard fingers digging into my skin_—

I flinched and glared back, and his grip loosened slightly. "It'd be just as weird as 'hey, I hear_ dead people.'_"

He glared at me for a few more seconds before dropping my arm and turning away. "A child like you could not _possibly_ understand."

"I can when any time I walk into that damn building I feel_ everything you went through_."

He stood there for a few minutes, his back stiff, his hand twitching, as if he wanted to—_fingers around my throat_—

He stalked off, passing into the shadow between buildings faster then I thought possible, and the sudden lack of _anything_ to focus on caught up with me.

I stood and shivered in reaction to everything that had just happened.

My arm _hurt_.

He'd grabbed me with his claw arm, I realized as I looked at the red welts ending in small bleeding cuts. I'd have to punch him for that later.

Finally I made a face at the area Vincent had disappeared into, and turned away. I needed to get back to the party—and hopefully I could get my arm fixed up before anyone saw it.


	14. Pointy Metal Things

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

I entered the room quietly, hoping I would be able to get past anyone without being noticed. 

I wasn't lucky at all.

"Yuffie_, there_ you are—what happened to your _arm?_" I flinched when Aeris exclaimed, causing everyone to turn to look at me.

"Um, nothing," I replied, biting my lip. "It's nothing."

"_Nothing?_ Yuffie, your _arm is bleeding._"

"It's nothing! Really," I insisted, covering it with one hand. Aeris came forward and peeled it off to look at the wounds—I resisted for a few seconds before Aeris gave me a Look.

Gawd, Aeris can be _scary_ when she wants to.

She pulled the torn fabric aside and then looked up at me gravely. "Yuffie… did Vincent do this?"

"_What?_" Cloud exclaimed, and came over to look. A few seconds later I was in the middle of a cluster of people who were all staring at my arm. "What _happened_?"

I bit my lip again. "Um, it's really stupid and it's not worth telling—" I cut myself off when my father stared at me wordlessly. "Well, uh, first the Turks tried to kidnap me—"

"_What?_"

I continued despite the interruption. "—and then Vincent scared them off, and, I, uh, kinda pissed him off when I wanted to know why he didn't tell us about the wolf-dude thing."

They took a few seconds to process that. They probably aren't very fluent in Babblese, I guess.

Because I was sure talking fast enough that it could be considered a whole different language.

Aeris made a disgruntled sound and placed her fingers on her Materia, a light green glow springing up around her fingers. "Keep still," she ordered.

I did. An angry Aeris was not someone to be crossed.

"But—_why?_" Tifa asked, staring. "Why would he do that?"

I made a face. "You want me to believe that you've never lost your temper? Any of you?"

Cloud looked rebellious. "Why are you defending him, Yuffie? He may have lost his temper, but he _hurt you_."

I opened my mouth to reply, but I couldn't think of a way to reply to that.

I didn't know why I was defending Vincent, but I _was_.

Aeris looked up. "These wounds are mostly superficial," she said, and I sighed as everyone relaxed a bit. "Vincent didn't grip very tightly, from what I see."

"I could have _told_ you that," I grumbled. "Geez, if he hadn't grabbed me with his claw arm thingy, I probably wouldn't even have _bruises_."

Cloud's face went from looking like a cloudy (hah hah) day to looking like a descending storm. "Even _so_. With this, and with the… transformation, I don't know if it would be safe to let Vincent come with us."

"Wait—why—" I stopped, frowning. Why was it…?

I pulled my arm away from Aeris, heading over to the door.

Vincent was standing there, with his back towards me, but he turned to look as soon as he heard the door opening.

He had a look on his face that was cold and hard and gave me the chills. His eyes went from me into the room, and I glanced behind me—

Everyone was staring past me with various degrees of anger—

—and when I turned back, he was gone.

--

I had to keep the old man from going after him—"I'm _sixteen_ and I can kick his ass myself, so _stay out of this!_"—and by that point everyone didn't see any reason _not _to discuss Vincent's fate.

I got stuck in a corner and told that I was "too close to the situation to be unbiased". And they _weren't_? So I had the choice of listening to them talk, or listening to Vincent's heart beat fast and—fearful?—in my head.

I went with the heartbeat. I couldn't listen to them discuss what to do without wanting to put in my own two gil, but since they weren't going to listen to me—

So I didn't listen to them.

Besides, the time I had to sit was time I could use to think about pressing matters.

Like why I had defended Vincent.

And why I trusted him so much.

--

It was a stalemate.

It was half for, and half against, and Cloud was on the fence.

And he refused to tell me _anything_ about why he was waffling.

I stopped after bugging him a few times, though. I didn't want to make him say no just to spite me.

--

The next morning, I realized that I didn't even know if they had decided to let _me_ stay, so I went in search of someone.

As soon as I stepped out of my room, though, Tifa looked up at me and smiled. "Yuffie," she started, getting to her feet, "we have something to show you." I blinked and nodded, following her down the hallway.

When I found myself being led slowly towards the throne room, I started to wonder if I really _wanted_ to know what they had to show me—

Everyone else was waiting outside the doors of the throne room—everyone _except_ Vincent, I noticed—and at the sight of me, their conversations stopped.

Cloud cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Well, Yuffie, we decided on whether or not to let you stay." I gulped. "You can stay, on one condition: don't steal from us again."

I nodded, and then blinked. "Okay… but I _am_ going to need to get Materia from _somewhere_—"

"No, you don't," Aeris interrupted, moving from where she had been standing in front of the door, revealing—

I staggered. I couldn't _believe_ it—

There was _Materia in Leviathan's Crown_.

"You—you're—" I'd stolen from them—and they were _giving me Materia?_

"We're willing to entrust Wutai with this Materia—but if you betray us again…" Cloud informed me, but I wasn't paying that much attention to him—_there was Materia in Leviathan's Crown!_ I think he realized that I wasn't paying attention to him, because he frowned. "Yuffie—"

I shook my head and grinned. "Don't worry about it! I don't have any reason to want to steal from you guys now!"

He nodded, unconvinced, but I just walked past him into the throne room. I ran my fingers over several of them—

_Seal Materia goes_ there—_Transform _there—_and the Heal is _there—

I frowned. "How did you know what went where?"

"Your father explained—and he was the one who put them all in," Tifa replied, standing in the doorway. "Yuffie—you could have just told us that Shinra had taken Wutai's Materia."

"…you wouldn't have understood. It wouldn't have meant anything to you—you barely believed in my Spirit Sight." I turned back to the wall, tracing the lines of the carvings. "If you didn't believe in that, why should you believe that Materia are the souls of our dead? Why should you believe it's Leviathan's tears?"

They all exchanged looks, and Cid muttered "religion"—but I wasn't _too_ angry with them. _They'd given my country a foundation_—

It wasn't the Materia we'd lost—Shinra had that. _This_ Materia wasn't the souls of our former rulers—but it was enough.

It was good enough.

My people would _have_ to start taking pride, now.

There wasn't any excuse.

_There was Materia in Leviathan's Crown_.

--

It wasn't until we were most of the way back to the Tiny Bronco—Pukemobile of Water—that I realized that I hadn't asked my father why I got seasick now when I hadn't before—but it was too late to go back to ask.

I pouted for a while before I noticed Vincent was walking beside me.

He seemed to be searching for something to say—while he did that, I eyed his shoulder speculatively. His claw arm probably ended about_ there_—

"Yuffie," he started, and then he grunted.

I yelped, because I'd just found out that the metal didn't end where I thought it had.

I shook my hand furiously, glaring at him.

"Yuffie—" he tried again.

I kicked him next. He stared at me, frowning, and, knowing him, that frown probably deepened when I turned my attention to rubbing my smarting fingers.

I gave him a few minutes, but when he didn't say anything I looked over at him. "Well? You had something to say didn't you?"

"I—apologize. I should not have lost my temper." I stuck my fingers in my ears and started to hum. That didn't last for long beyond when I saw the expression on Vincent's face.

"Oh, come _on_, Vincent, you don't expect me to listen to you blab on about 'blah blah blah _sin_, blah blah blah _tainted_, box in the ground and _die'_, do you?"

He looked away.

"Oi. Angst Bucket." Vincent turned to look at me, but he'd put a flat face on—I wonder if they teach it to Turks special, because it looked a lot like what Mr. Bald Head wore all the time. "People lose their temper all the time—just keep in mind you've got five pointy metal things instead of fingers with that hand now." I wait a bit for a response, and while I _did_ get one, it wasn't one I'd been expecting.

"You mentioned… being able to feel what occurred," he said. "Does that have to do with your Spirit Sight?"

I nodded, rolling my eyes a bit—hadn't I already _explained?_—but his question reminded me of the other remnants from the mansion—

"I apologize. No one else should go through that," he murmured, and I eyed his shoulder again. I wanted to tell him that _he_ didn't deserve to go through that—**guess a _Turk_ is better than nothing**—but I didn't think he'd agree with me.

I put the thought aside—I'd come back to it later. "Hey—Vinnie—he said _friends_. That means…"

"…yes. There are more."

I glanced up at him, wondering if I could push him for more detail, or if that would be a bad idea—

"And?" I asked carefully. I didn't _think_ he would get angry with that—he could just ignore it, if he wanted.

"Besides… the Galian Beast, there are two others I can tell are there." He looked almost uncomfortable—that is, as uncomfortable as you can look when you _don't show emotions_.

I took pity on him. Whacking his claw arm with my fist—_carefully_—I grinned up at him. "Don't worry about it now, monster man!" At his pained look, my grin grew wider. "Come on, it's not like they're going to come out now! The sun's shining! Stop being such a stick in the mud, Vinnie!"

He didn't look too impressed.

I didn't care.

His shoulders _did_, however, lose a bit of their tenseness.

I think he _might_ have started to realize that I _did_ know what he'd been through.

And he had to believe that.

Because it was _true_.


	15. Just Breathe

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

We made it back to the stretch of coast where we'd left the Tiny Bronco without much more trouble, and despite what the little doomsayer in my mind had to say, it was still there when we got back. 

I guess that tribe of cannibalistic pigmies my mind conjured up didn't have the time to figure out how to work the vomit-inducer.

What a pity.

We camped there for a night, and the next day we trotted—well, bobbed—off on our merry way.

Well—_their_ merry way. I was _sick as sick can be_. As usual.

And I don't even know what happened when we hit land—I was staggering onto shore, having once again made my premature exit from the plane, when—_hands cold and hard on my neck—something_ grabbed my leg and pulled me under. I reached blindly for my shuriken, but it was nowhere I could find it, and, even having spent my whole childhood close enough to the ocean to have encountered some of the more dangerous parts of it, I was having a hard time _holding my breath._

Which made being underwater with a monster even _more_ dangerous.

I was lashing out with my free foot, trying as hard as I could to hit something, _anything_—

I guess it was about then that someone noticed that, hey, Yuffie might be a bit_ gone_—

A screech rippled through the water, echoed through my _bones_—and the tentacle, or whatever it was, released my leg. I thrashed my way up to the surface of the water, good form abandoned in the interest of _getting somewhere I could _breathe—

Cid was standing on the tail of the plane, one hand gripping the pointing-up-thing, the other holding his spear—which was deep in the flesh of the monster—

Someone grabbed the back of my shirt and started to lift me up out of the water, but before I had risen very far I had reached up, fingers searching for the point in the wrist where the nerves crossed bone and _pressed_. I heard Tifa yelp before I dropped back down. I stood shakily, ignoring the fight going on. "Don't _touch me,"_ I hissed, glaring up at her. "Not near my—" I cut myself off, crossing my hands protectively over my throat, warm and wet and soothing away the memory of _fingers, cold and short—_I shook myself, and dug through the sand to find my shuriken.

After a few moments of digging and no luck, I knelt in the water. Spreading my hands underwater and taking a deep breath, I breathed out two words that spread stillness and silence—and for a few seconds I thought that time had _stopped—_

"Tidal Wave," I could hear myself whisper, an echo—distorted and broken and reality fell away and—

And _Leviathan_ was there, fearsome and dangerous and _beautiful—_

He lifted His head, and I could see the glint of Materia before He roared—

The ocean responded. A wave grew, lapping around His body before _reaching out_—and the Lord of the Ocean—the Master of the Sea—_Leviathan_—followed—

Trembling, I slumped, staring at the place the monster had been. I shook my weariness away, looking around me. A dull red gleam under a layer of sand caught my attention, and I grabbed my shuriken. Brushing my fingers over the blood-red summon, I smiled. "Thank you, ancestor," I breathed. The still gleaming orb seemed to flicker, to grow brighter, before the glow faded away.

"How did you _do_ that?" Cloud asked, an interest that had nothing to do with his Badass Personality sparkling in his eyes. Really truly? I like him better when he's acting like this. It doesn't feel as…forced, I guess. Like Cloud the Badass isn't really him. Or something. "You weren't touching the Materia, so how did you manage to use the summon?"

"It's the water," I replied, standing—or at least, _trying_ to. I ended up slumping back down into the kneeling position. "I'm touching the water, and the water is touching the Materia: Leviathan's Blood carried my will." I could hear Cait Sith snort, but before I retorted, Red turned his head and spoke calmly.

"It may seem like superstition, and perhaps it is, but a great deal of the body is made of water, we've discovered in Cosmo Canyon."

Cait Sith cocked his head to one side, seeming to think about that. After a second, though, he made a rude noise and patted the head of the Moogle doll. "Well, that may be true, but it's not the case for Mog here! Poor guy's all stuffing and cloth!"

--

"Um…" I said, and stopped. Have I mentioned yet that living in a forest for four years kinda hurts your abilities to interact well with people?

Well, it _does._ I shifted from foot to foot, trying to figure out what to do. What to _say._

"Yes, Yuffie?" Tifa said, sounding like she was encouraging me to continue. I scuffed my foot against the ground, not looking at her.

"Sorry," I managed to get out, and then I was having problems with _shutting up_, not with _talking._ "I really really don't like being touched near my neck, and it's not your fault and I'm really sorry I reacted like I did—"

"It's all right," she said, touching my shoulder, and I looked up to see her smiling at me. It wasn't a very happy smile. But it had _understanding_ in it, and that made it better than _any_ happy smile could have been at that moment. "It has something to do with…Shinra, and SOLDIER, right?"

I nodded, and shivered.

"I have…something of the same problem," she confided, lowering her voice. "After Nibelheim—_happened_—I haven't liked to touch anything that's metal. But I can help myself handle it by wearing gloves… you don't really have that option, though, do you?"

"No," I replied. "I can barely stand to have _fabric_ against my neck."

"And you're wearing a _turtleneck_."

"I want—I want to be _normal_. I don't _like _to freak out just because of a _touch_." Tifa stared at me, and I shifted uncomfortably. "What?" I asked, feeling like I'd said something wrong.

"Yuffie, you're so _brave_," she replied.

It made me feel good that she thought that—but I still don't believe she was right to say it. I'm not brave.

I'm not brave at _all._


	16. Yuffie the Human Compass

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

Cloud called us to a fireside meeting that night. I was wondering if he was going to have us sing happy-everyone-loves-the-world campfire songs, but he just announced his lifelong desire to wear dresses. And then Aeris and Tifa dragged him off to play dress-up. 

Well, no. But I _wish_ that was what happened.

"I know you've been waiting for my decision," Cloud said, looking pensive. Pensive does _not_ go well with Cloud. So he looked weird. "Vincent… I'm sorry, but I don't think you should be allowed to come with us."

"_What?_" I cried, surprised. I'd thought—

"Yuffie—"

—Vinnie was _useful_, damn it, even if he _did _have monsters in his head—"Cloud, you _clod."_

"Very well," Vincent said, and stood. I froze, surprised—he didn't even _argue—_then stood up so fast I knocked over the block of wood I'd been sitting on.

"Hey, if _Vincent_ goes, _I_ go, too," I said, loudly. Vincent turned to look at me, shock obvious on his face. I win! Vincent showed emotion!

Clod raised an eyebrow. He was back in his I Feel Nothing mode. "And if you leave, there's a possibility of the guards that Aeris put on your mind breaking. They already have_ once._"

I opened my mouth, and closed it, thinking quick about what I was going to say. "_I_ was the one who opened the _damn door_," I hissed finally, and shook my head. "Plus, if he stays, I can warn you when he's about to go all wolfish."

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked, the dispassionate look on his face fading into confusion.

"I mean I've got his _heartbeat _in my _head._"

And chaos broke loose.

--

After the—I _guess _it could be called an argument, though it wasn't _really_—wore down, we discovered that Vincent had cut and run during the confusion. Cloud looked resigned to never seeing him again, but _I_ wasn't.

"I can find him," I said, pushing my hair out of my face.

"Using _what—_oh," Tifa began, cutting herself off when she realized what I was talking about.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm a living breathing _compass_ for ol' Vintage."

"Vin—_Vintage?"_

"Well, he _is _vintage, isn't he?" I said, grinning. "Anyway. It feels like he's running like a scared little girl for Wibblehome."

"…I'm not even going to _ask_," Cloud said, rubbing his forehead. "I guess you want to go find him?"

"Yeah. And we can go get the buggy-vomit-comet-thing while we're at it."

"All right," Cloud said with a sigh. "Take two others with you, okay? I don't want something to happen."

"I'll go," Aeris said, all sweetness and light and sparkly little _sparkle things_ around her. Cloud looked at her in shock, and she continued. "I'll need to be there to replace the shields, if they break."

Cloud sighed again. Poor little whiny boy. "And since I'm your bodyguard, _I_ have to go, as well." He sat, thinking, and finally sighed. _Again._ "All right. The rest of you, we'll meet you at—oh, Gongaga. Does that make sense?"

I tuned out while everyone else nodded and said "oh, yes, Cloud-oh-dictator. We do everything you say."

Well, not quite. But close enough, right?

--

We caught up to Vinnie near Nibelheim. He looked up from where he sat, and resignation flickered across his face.

"Another facet of your talent?" he asked as I walked closer. Cloud and Aeris stayed back. I guess they were giving me a chance to convince Vincent.

"Yup!" I replied brightly, and continued. "I'm a regular bloodhound. But don't let it go to your head."

He did his Eyebrow Thing—I'm not _really_ a thief, but if I could steal the ability to do that, I _would_—and replied. "I suppose you would like me to return with you?"

"Hey, I _own_ you," I said brashly. "_I_ opened the door. Finders keepers."

Eyebrow Thing again—so freaking_ cool_—and he sighed. No doubt impressed by my maturity. "Is that so?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It because I say so."

A slightly bitter smile twisted his lips. "Very well."

"All _right!"_ I cheered, jumping to my feet. "Come on, let's go, let's _go!_"

I waited impatiently while he gathered his belongings, and tried to figure out what felt wrong about the situation. "Hey—you didn't _argue_ enough," I burst out. "Why?"

He glanced at me, expressionless. "Repentance," he replied, putting the last few things into his pack.

I made a face. "Sins and repentance, my _gawd._ Get _over_ yourself." I stuck my tongue out at him when he looked at me, frowning. "You say it like you had _any _control over what happened, and you didn't do anything about it."

"I _didn't_ do anything about it—"

"You _couldn't_ do anything about it." I shook my finger at him when he began to reply. "You could have tried harder to convince her, and _maybe_ you could have succeeded, but what would _that_ do for you? Sure, _maybe_ she wouldn't have married whack-job Hobo, and maybe she wouldn't have died, but she'd _resent_ you. And you probably couldn't have done anything _anyway._" Before he could find an answer to that, I turned and walked back to Cloud and Aeris.

They were watching me with surprise.

"What?" I asked, a bit peevishly. I seem to be doing that a _lot._

Aeris shook her head, a small smile on her face. Cloud looked a bit startled. "I didn't realize you were so…insightful," he said.

I grimaced. "I have some experience in the matter." After _That Night_, my father had tried so hard to protect me—probably something to do with the fact Mother died and I nearly got _strangled_ to death—and he ended up nearly suffocating me. The arguments had had much more _anger_ in them, then. It was one of the smaller, less important reasons I had left Wutai.

Cloud nodded like he understood, but I don't think he really did.

--

We tromped off to get the vomit comet thingy, and it was dark when we reached Nibelheim.

Which was good, because it meant we didn't have to deal with anyone. It was bad, though, because Cloud the Clod set off the booby trap on the buggy.

The first thing _I_ knew about that was the sudden _thump_ as he fell face-forward into the vehicle.

Aeris began to approach him, but when she was within a few steps, she backed away. "There's some sort of sleeping gas being released," she said, looking warily at the door Cloud was slumped against.

"Isn't there some kind of spell you can do?" I asked, keeping well back. If the gas took _Cloud_ down that fast, _I_ would go down even quicker.

"If I knew where the canister was, yes, but I don't know where it could possibly be." Aeris looked over at Vincent, biting her lip. "Ah… Vincent? Mr. Valentine? What would you suggest we do?"

Vincent stepped nearer to Cloud and…sniffed the air?_ Okay_. Whatever, Vampy boy. "This is a gas that was produced for exclusive use by the Turks when I was a member. Perhaps it is being used more widely now, but…"

"And," I started, dragging out the vowel, "what do we _do_ about it?"

He glanced at me, seeming a bit annoyed. "We wait."

I rolled my eyes. "Can we at least move Spikes away from there? That gas may be killing brain cells as we speak, and he can't _afford_ to lose any more."

Vincent shrugged and took the last few steps over to Cloud, crouching to sling one of his arms over his shoulder, and stood, nearly lifting Cloud off the ground as he did so.

Half-dragging Cloud over to where I was standing, he bent, letting Cloud slide back down onto the ground. Spikyhead barely twitched, and actually started to _snore_. I, of course, started to laugh, which caused Aeris to start, after she finished frowning.

Vincent went back to the buggy and got himself busy doing _something_ to it. As I watched, he plucked something off the door, and seemed to examine it, though I don't know how he could see _anything—_oh, right, Mako.

Stupid Shinra and their Mako treatments.

Anyway. After he finished looking at whatever-it-was, he reached under the buggy and did something _there_. Finally he pulled out a canister and stood. "When I return, most of the gas will have dispersed."

And with that, Vampire Boy wandered off into Nibelheim. I turned back to see Aeris helping a groggy Cloud sit up. "Hey, Spikes, how're ya feeling?" I asked, not really trying to be obnoxious. Or maybe I was. The world may never know.

Cloud squinted at me. He was having trouble focusing his eyes, if the mismatched pupil sizes were any indication. And the fact he'd gone cross eyed. "…are there two of you?"

I snickered. "Nope!" He flinched at my loud tone, and I lowered my voice in response. "Think you're going to be fit to drive? Because _I've_ got no clue how to drive that thing, though I'm not sure about Aeris or Vintage…"

"…don't call me that," the previously mentioned guy said. I ignored what he said, and just turned to ask the burning question.

"Hey, Vinnie, can you drive?" He raised an eyebrow, and remained silent. I squirmed for a minute before sighing. "_Vincent_. Can you drive?"

"Yes."

We loaded up Cloud and then piled in ourselves, and it wasn't until we were on our way that I remembered the Mystery of the Canister. Actually, that sounds a bit like a book title… one of those little girl mysteries, anyway. But I shouldn't get distracted. I asked Vinnie about it.

"I left the Turks a present," he replied, a Vincent-sized portion of smugness in his voice.


	17. Subtext Spells Um No

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

We stopped at Cosmo Canyon to both sleep—have you ever _tried_ to sleep in a buggy? It's _not_ comfortable at _all_—and replenish our supplies. When we left that time, Cloud was feeling up to driving, so Vinnie sat in the back with Aeris. I warned him seriously that I could either sit in front, or I could sit in back and do my best to projectile vomiton him. 

Of course, he decided to sit in back.

Smart guy. I hear it's difficult to get the smell of vomit out of clothes.

It took driving all day, but we reached Gongaga eventually. We fell into beds and slept. At least, I did. The others stayed up to talk. Well, while _they_ were tired in the morning, _I_ wasn't.

Heh heh heh.

"So, what are we doing today?" I asked brightly when everyone had finally gotten up. I'm not _really_ a morning person, but I'd been up long enough to get out of my grumpy stage.

Barret, however, hadn't. He snorted. "If you'd stayed to listen last night, you'd _know_ already."

"Hey! I need more sleep then you do!" I protested, sticking my tongue out at him. "But where are we _going?_"

"Rufus mentioned following Sephiroth to the Temple of Ancients, where ever that is," Cloud answered, nursing a cup of coffee. "Do you know anything about that, Yuffie?" he continued hopefully. I had to shake my head.

"If I ever learned about it, I've forgotten." Everyone looked more or less puzzled—some showing less—_far _less—than others, not naming any names. I bet you can guess _who,_ though. "I'm _next in line_ to be ruler of Wutai, do you think I _wouldn't_ be learning about other places?" Although, not being home for four years… What I knew was probably not very useful now.

"Wait…" Cait Sith said, looking out the window. His voice sounded almost—_distant_. "I remember an old guy came through the Golden Saucer a few years ago—he was talking about selling some sort of stone with Ancientscript on it to Dio…"

"Right," Cloud said, pushing the coffee cup away. "Let's head to the Golden Saucer, then."

--

We got up to North Corel by evening, and went straight up to the Golden Saucer. Once we were in the thing to go up to it, whatever it would be called, Cloud called us all over.

"We barely managed to pay our way last time," he said worriedly, frowning, "and now we have four more people."

"Nah, y'don't need to pay for me, I've got a lifetime pass!" Cait Sith bragged. I snorted.

"Okay, so that leaves Yuffie, Vincent, and Cid. Can any of you afford it?"

I was busy counting my money. "How much for it…?"

"It's three thousand for a one-time pass."

I looked up. "Um, I could pay for several people…" Trailing off, I flushed when everyone turned to look at me. "Tourism brings in a lot of money, even if I hate it. And I _am—_"

"—the heir of Wutai, we _know_," Cait Sith said. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he returned the favor. _His_ tongue was longer.

And it's not bad enough I envy Vincent's _Eyebrow Thing_, but now I want Cait Sith's _tongue?_ Or at least I wish my tongue was that long. I could lick my nose, then!

"I've got enough," Cid said gruffly, and everyone turned to look at Vincent.

He shook his head.

"I'll pay," I said, a bit grudgingly. I may have money coming out my _ears_, but it didn't mean I had to _like_ spending it. Vincent did his eyebrow thing—those_ eyebrows,_ oh my_ gawd_—and finally nodded.

"Thank you, Yuffie."

--

Cloud did what he did best—no, _not_ looking confused! Beating up monsters! So, we got what a _really scary muscle guy in a Speedo_ called a "Keystone", which Cloud hid away somewhere. Then we tromped back to the exit place, but the thing we'd come up on was out of order, so we went and got rooms at the fake creepy hotel.

Vinnie looked _right at home there_, though.

Well, he didn't look like he was _at_ home—but his whole "I'm a Vampire" look fit in _really well_.

So I didn't even bother not laughing when some lost lady walked up to him and asked for directions.

Cait Sith hopped up—"So sorry, miss, but Vincent here has just begun his training"—and drew her off, explaining furiously and waving with both _his_ arms _and_ Mog's.

Cloud went and explained the Sephiroth Story once again, and I tuned him out. I got it the _first time_. I didn't want it beat into my head _again._

After story time was over, I discovered I wasn't the only one that Cloud's voice put to sleep—Old-timer Cid was fast asleep in the chair he'd sat down in.

I poked him for a while, but I lost interest when he didn't wake up, so I went and recruited someone to lug him back to his room. Vinnie Vintage was the lucky one, being as he was the first one I found.

…Well, really, he's the only one I knew how to find, as everyone else had disappeared.

Anyway. Having left Cid to Vincent's mercies, I went off to check out my room. It was decorated in the same not-quite-scary kind of thing as everything else.

I was examining the bed dubiously—it was shaped like a _coffin_, my _gawd_—when there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" I called, too busy poking the coffin-shaped bed to open the door myself. I think that bed was _just about _to—

Cloud cleared his throat. "That's not going to bite you, you know," he observed, blinking.

"Well, of course it won't bite me _now_." I stuck my tongue out at him, and plopped down on the floor. "…Need something?" I continued when it became obvious when he wasn't going to come right out and say it. He glanced at the door he'd left ajar, then walked over to crouch next to me.

"I need you to hold onto this for me," he said quietly, holding out the keystone. "I don't feel safe leaving it in my room, even if I hid it."

"Okay," I said slowly, taking the stone. "So what are you doing that's taking you out of your room? And why give it to _me _for safekeeping?"

Cloud grinned, a childish, charming lopsided smile. "I'm going on a date," he replied, and continued before I could get over my shock. "As for your second question… well, consider this a test of how trustworthy you are. Think you can handle it?"

Still trying to complete the mental process of imagining _Cloud_ on a _date_, I nodded, and he grinned.

"Thanks, Yuffie!" He reached out and ruffled my hair—I missed when I tried to bat his hand away, curse him for moving too fast!—before standing to leave.

"Hey, wait!" I called when he reached the door. Cloud turned and raised an eyebrow at me—hey, maybe I'm not the only one with eyebrow envy! "Who're you going with?"

His only reply was another grin and closing the door.

--

After I entertained myself for a while trying to figure out who Cloud had gone on his date with—I figured it could have been anyone except Vincent, because his heartbeat didn't get any quieter. After I gave myself the giggles imagining Cloud on a date with _Barret_, I stopped, mostly because I realized that the letters in 'subtext' can be rearranged to spell—no. I'm not going there.

Nuh-uh. You figure it out yourself.

Anyway, after that I was done with that, I went and sat on the coffin-shaped bed—it _didn't_ end up biting me, but I think Cloud jinxed that—and stared at the ceiling, which didn't match up with the rest of the not-quite-creepy decorations, as it had _real_ cobwebs. I know because I pulled some of them down.

_Grossness._

Just before I expired of boredom, another knock on my door got me jumping off the bed and nearly running over to open it. My excitement, however, died as soon as I saw how much Cait Sith was twitching.

"What's wrong?" I asked in alarm.

"Yuffie, you need to come quick," he said, "and bring the Keystone. Shinra contacted Cloud—they've got Aeris' mother and Barret's daughter as hostages!"

"_What?_" I hissed, shock rooting me where I stood.

"Get it and hurry, please," he begged. "Cloud's waiting at the Chocobo Square." He turned Mog and went hopping down the hallway, and I turned, rushing back to the coffin-shaped bed and driving for the pillow.

With the keystone in hand, I hurried back to the door, barely pausing to get my shuriken. I bumped into Vincent on my way out of the hotel, but I didn't pause to bother him—just apologized and kept moving.

Shinra had just proved to me that they would do _anything _to get what they wanted.

I knew that I was right to hate them, not just because they had created the people who defeated us, the person who killed my mother—_a blood splattered face above me—_they'd kidnapped the relatives of my friends because _we_ had something they wanted.

I _hate_ them.


	18. Turks Suck Again

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

I made it to the Chocobo Square with no real difficulty, but when I entered, there was no sight of Cloud or anyone who was obviously from Shinra. I frowned. 

I suddenly had a _bad _feeling about this—

"Yuffie Kisaragi," an accented voice spoke from behind me. I wheeled, but as soon as I saw that dark blue suit—

As soon as I saw that suit, I started running.

My running was short-lived, though, as Reno came out of the travel-tube I had been heading for. I skidded to a stop, and changed directions. The next one I headed for had a Shinra soldier guarding it, and I didn't even bother to stop—I just hit him—_her?—_with the flat of one of the blades on my shuriken, and dove into the tube.

I found myself in the Wonder Square, and turned to the tube for the Ghost Square—

It was blocked off. I cursed, something vile I vaguely remembered Cid saying once, and jumped into another one—

I caught a brief glimpse of Cloud as I hit the Event Square, and found _that_ entrance to Ghost Square to be blocked, too. If I could just get back to where the others were—my next choice brought me out at the entrance, but—

I skidded to a stop when I found myself confronted by a squad of Shinra Soldiers and the Turk. "Yuffie Kisaragi," he said again, and continued. "It is highly advisable you accompany us this time." I backed towards the tube, but froze when I felt cold metal against my neck. The Turk put a half-smile on his face, but it didn't look at all sincere. _Or_ happy. "We are not prepared to leave without your presence."

"Leviathan curse you," I muttered, glaring at him.

He didn't look impressed. "Leviathan's curse will not add anything more to what I already must live with," he replied in Wutaianese—_fluent­ _Wutaianese.

I stared at him as he pulled out a phone and pressed one of the buttons.

"Reno, we're bringing her to Chocobo Square now. Ready the helicopter."

I stubbornly stayed were I was until the person behind me pushed the gun—_was_ it a gun? It sort of felt like it—into my neck. I stumbled forward, glaring at the Turk.

"The keystone," he said boredly, holding out one hand.

I spat into it.

He only raised an eyebrow, leaving his hand where it was. The soldier behind me wasn't interested in how the Turk reacted, though. He—she—_they_ hit me with the gun. I stumbled forward with a grunt, into arm's reach of the Turk. He gripped my chin roughly and stared at me.

"You have two choices. The first is to give us the keystone, and the relatives of your friends will be released. The second is to keep the keystone, and our… _guests…_ will suffer the consequences."

I took a breath in preparation to say something brave and foolish and no doubt something he'd heard before, but one of his fingers brushed my throat—

—_short and cold fingers, tightening, cutting off breath and life—_

_I couldn't breathe._

I heard him cursing, and then he was pressing his fingers against Materia, and—

--

"—sir!—"

"—what—"

"—our orders?"

"—return—Junon, and then—"

I could hear voices speaking, but could only hear fragments of what they were saying. I knew it was important, but I couldn't—couldn't?

"—why—alone?"

"—need to—Hojo, so—afterwards."

"—yes sir!"

—couldn't? Couldn't _what?_ Forcing my eyes open a crack, I whimpered when the light seemed to burn. _That_ at least woke me up more.

_Sleep_. The Turk had used a Sleep spell on me.

"—awake," I heard Reno say. "We'll meet you there, sir."

I could hear someone leave and a door slam, but my eyes wouldn't _focus—_

Squinting through watering eyes, I finally began to make out details as an engine sputtered and then roared to life. "Oh, _shit_," I said, staring at the interior of a helicopter. I couldn't hear myself speaking—the only way I knew I had spoken at all was that I'd _felt_ it, rather than hearing it.

There were a few seats in front of me, only two of which had people in them—Rude and Reno. I craned around, trying to see behind me, but both the fact I was tied into my seat and that the only light available was from the panels up front kept me from seeing much. I turned back to find Rude was watching me, an unreadable look on his face. I started talking, using words that would have made Cid _proud_. I didn't care he couldn't hear me—damn Turks are probably trained to read lips.

One eyebrow went up—is the Eyebrow Thing taught in Turks 101?—and he turned back to the front, doing something with his panel. I've got no clue what he was doing, though.

So the trip went silently—silently, hah! The damn thing was giving me a headache with all the noise!—and I occupied myself by working on freeing my hands. It didn't go too well—I _should_ have paid more attention during those rope classes I'd had…

So there I was, tied into a helicopter seat, with two silent Turks up front and the roar of the helicopter being my only company. Do you think I _wasn't _surprised when that fat guy who the Midgarians seem to plaster all over during one month walked up from behind me?

Okay, so he wasn't fat. And he wasn't white haired. And he didn't have a beard.

But he _was_ wearing red and he was _Vincent Valentine_ and he was on the _helicopter_ and I couldn't figure out _how_ I'd tuned out his heartbeat to the point I hadn't realized that he was _there_.

He glanced at me for a second before continuing forward, pulling out his gun and stepping up beside the two Turks.

It was obvious the _second_ that they noticed him, because the helicopter _jerked—_

I'm sure I'd used more of Cid's Favorite Words, but I can't remember now what I'd said for the life of me.

And then, suddenly, we were going _down—_

I sighed in relief when the engine finally cut off, even though my ears were echoing, but finally I could hear something _other_ than the constant droning.

Vinnie and Rooster-head and Baldie did a little superiority dance and then started talking, too quiet for me to hear, even then I did lean as close as I could in an attempt to eavesdrop.

Finally Vinnie turned away, walking back towards me. Reno and Rude went into a huddle, seeming to be arguing about something.

Vincent's claw thingy made short work of the ropes, and I sighed in relief when I was able to stand up. I rolled my shoulders to loosen them up. "Where's my shuriken?" I asked quietly, and Vincent gestured towards the end of the helicopter.

Apparently the Turks hadn't wanted to leave any sign of the kidnapping, so they'd taken my shuriken with them. And though I looked for it, I couldn't find any sign of the keystone.

And then I realized where it was. _Gawd, Yuffie, did you lose your brains somewhere?_ The other Turk—the one I didn't know—and Elena weren't here—they must have taken the keystone to the Temple of the Antchicks, or whatever.

I made a face. "Let's blow this popsicle stand." I wanted to get _away_ from the Turks. They weren't cool at _all_.

"Valentine!" Reno called, and we both turned—well, I may not have 'Valentine' in my name, but I'm as curious as a cat. Anyway, we both turned in time to see Reno toss something, which Vincent managed to catch.

His eyebrows went up. I'm not even going to say _anything_ about it. Nope. "This is…"

"You know how to work it?" Vincent nodded, looking at whatever he had in his hand. "Good. We'll be waiting for you."

After that, Vinnie pushed me ahead of him out of the helicopter, and kept walking once we were out. I had the choice of following him or being flattened when the helicopter took off.

Can you guess which I chose?

After the Turks were gone, I bounced up to Vincent. "What is it?" I asked, managing to curb _most_ of my enthusiasm. I didn't seem to get enough of it out of my voice, though, because Vincent still gave me a Look, but he showed me a small black machine thing.

"It's a tracker," he explained, looking at it more closely. "And it is programmed with the location of the Temple of the Ancients."

…maybe the Turks aren't quite _that_ bad.


	19. Betrayal and Broken Trust

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

"Cloud—" Vincent wasn't having any fun, by the look on his face. "_Cloud_," he finally spat out, looking irritated. "Stop talking and _listen_." A pause. "Thank you." 

I tuned him out while he explained to Cloud our fun fun situation by phone. We were out in the middle of freaking _nowhere_, and there wasn't much chance of us being able to walk anywhere before we had to keel over to sleep, and since we had no _supplies—_

Well. Keeling over to sleep would be a_ bad idea, _because I didn't want to wake up as monster food.

"And we would appreciate it if someone would drive out and get us," Vincent concluded, sounding like he didn't really expect that to happen. "…very well. We will meet you there." He sighed and pocketed the phone.

"Well, Vinnie Vintage, what's the plan?" I asked, peering up from where I was sprawled. He gave me a disgusted look and turned away. "Vintage," I said in a sing-song voice. Vinnie twitched. "Hey, hey, Vinnie, what're we going to do?"

He sighed. "We are to meet Cloud and the others at the ford in the river," he replied reluctantly. I jumped to my feet and did a little dance, not _only_ because we had a solid plan, but because I'd gotten him to answer to "Vinnie". Score for me!

We started walking and we killed monsters and I nearly annoyed the pants off of Vincent.

_Nearly_.

Vincent wasn't pantsless when we finally reached the ford, where Cloud-and-friends were waiting.

I froze at the sight of one—_friend_—in particular.

"_Damn it_," I hissed, staring at Cait Sith. He had the grace to look nervous. He _should_. My glare was just one degree below being able to kill. "What is _he_ still doing here?"

Vincent raised an eyebrow and went over to talk to Cloud. I stayed where I was and glared at Cait Sith, rubbing my wrist absently. I hadn't thought to put my shoulder-guard on before I left, so the back of my wrist had been rubbed raw—I was _really_ hoping that someone had thought to bring it.

It took a while, but I finally realized that no one had come over to talk to me. With one last angry look at the cat and his doll, I walked over to talk to Cid. He was closest.

"What do you want?" he asked, more harshly than he had the last time I'd gone to bother him.

I frowned. "I want to know why everyone is acting like I kill babies or something."

Cid said something pungent and puffed angrily on his cigarette, but he didn't respond otherwise.

"Answer me," I demanded, looking at the others.

There was a silence, until Cait Sith spoke up. "You're acting like you think we don't know what you did," he said, his voice hiding any hint of nervousness he might feel.

"What—" I started and choked, feeling betrayed—

"We _know_ that you gave Shinra the keystone."

--

I felt frozen.

It made sense now—the cold way that everyone was looking at me, how everyone was avoiding me.

I could hear Vincent talking faintly, but—

—they thought I had sold them out to _Shinra_—

—Shinra, the reason _my mother was dead—_

—Shinra, where _Cait Sith_ worked—

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I could feel tears stinging my eyes, but I pushed them back as best as I could. Opening them, I looked around to find everyone was staring at me. "Are you so sure," I started, and paused, swallowing in an attempt to keep my voice from wobbling, "that you've really discovered the traitor?"

And with that, I turned and started to walk away. I didn't—didn't want to see—

I didn't want to see them look at me like that, like I was worth less than the dead monsters we'd been leaving behind us.

Like I was _dirt_.

--

There was someone following me.

I didn't want to look at them—_we _know_ you gave Shinra the keystone—_so I just kept walking. I knew that it wasn't Vincent, but other than that I didn't know who it could be.

I just—_walked_.

Finally, though, they lost their patience—they came up beside me and put their hand on my shoulder—I hit it away, and whirled to face Cloud.

"What do you want?" I hissed. I wanted him to— to— "Just—go away! You've already _decided_, haven't you? So why don't you just go and piss on a monster!" I spun and stalked off again.

"Yuffie—" Cloud growled. I ignored him. He grabbed my shoulder again, and this time I reached for my shuriken, staring at him balefully.

"Cloud, I swear by Leviathan's Crown_ if you touch me again_—"

"What happened to your wrist?" he interrupted, staring at the rope burn. I glared at him for a second, and laughed humorlessly.

"Well, I'd explain, but since you're so sure I'm a turncoat…" I shrugged and smiled grimly. "What lead to that decision, anyway?"

Cloud blinked. "Cait Sith told me—"

I snorted. "Told you he saw me leaving the hotel with the keystone, right?"

He nodded. "And I don't see any reason not to trust him."

"How about this?" I asked bitterly, and laughed again. "He told me that _you_ were asking for me, and he begged me to come quick and_ bring the keystone._"

"What?" Cloud asked, quietly, looking startled. I nodded.

"And when I got to the Chocobo Square—where he _told _me to go—not _only _did I not see you or any of the Shinra people you'd supposedly confronted—did I mention he said that Shinra had Barret's daughter and Aeris' mother hostage?—not only did I not see anyone, but then I got to play hide and seek with the Turks."

"…why should I believe you?" Cloud looked indecisive. "You've lied to us before—"

"Oh, shut _up_. There's a difference between lying and stealing, and I've already _explained_ why I stole from you. _Besides,_ would I have _rope burns_ if I was an _guest_ of Shinra?"

"Well—"

"You know what? Forget this. You're not going to believe me, no matter _what_ I say, so why should even I bother?" I started pulling the Materia out of my weapon and armor, feeling that ancient knowledge just _disappear_ as it lost contact with me. "Here—have your Materia back. You're not going to let me stay, so you may as well take it back." Cloud opened his mouth, but I didn't let him say anything. "If you come back to Wutai, you can have the rest back—I'll figure how to get more _myself_." Pushing the Materia into his hands, I turned and started to walk away again.

"Yuffie," Cloud called. I turned back to him, blinking back tears. "You're telling the truth?" I nodded, and he bit his lip. "Come back with me. I'm going to confront Cait Sith."

"You—_why?_"

He was frowning. "Because things don't seem right." He wouldn't expand on that, and I didn't feel much like pushing him for an explanation.

The walk back to where the buggy was parked was a silent one—if the other person was someone like Vintage, who seems to be silent for _at least_ five hours a day, it wouldn't be that much of a surprise—but for me and Cloud? _Quite_ an accomplishment.

Cait Sith had his back toward us when we returned, not noticing us until Barret looked up, his face twisting into a look of anger. The cat turned, eyes widening in panic before he managed to cover it up. I had to smile, but it was bitter. And from Cloud's snort, he'd noticed it as well.

"What'd you bring her back for?" Barret growled. "We already _know_ what happened, thanks to Cait Sith—"

"Cait Sith may have left a few things out," Cloud said, looking at Barret steadily, and the taller man glowered for a few moments before he looked down.

"You'd believe a _thief_ over me?" Cait Sith squeaked, sounding insulted—and nervous. I wasn't the only one who heard it, either, because Aeris gave him an odd look.

"I believe her," Cloud said, and left it at that. "Now, Cait, would you mind explaining why you told Yuffie that Shinra had Barret's daughter and Aeris' mother—"

"_What?" _Barret exploded, furious, turning to face Cait Sith. Reaching out to grab the cat, he shook him furiously. "What do you _mean_, _Shinra has my Marlene?_"

"I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this," Cait Sith said, his voice sounding _totally different_—it wasn't that high-pitched whine anymore—it was a deeper, more human voice. He reached up and gripped Barret's wrist and—

—_a spark of electricity?—_

—_something_ jumped from the cat's paw to Barret's arm, causing him to drop the cat. Cait Sith landed back on Mog's head, and cocked his head. "What I told Yuffie is true—Shinra _does_ have little Marlene and Mrs. Elmyra. I just didn't tell her the _whole _truth, though I think she's figured it out by now." He smiled, showing pointy teeth. "_I_ work for Shinra."


	20. Ancient Steps

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

"Killing me won't do anything," Cait Sith said calmly, staring into the barrel of Barret's gunarm. "This body—_these_ bodies—are just robots. I can replace them easily." 

Barret's gunarm wavered, and eventually he lowered it, swearing, and began to pace.

I looked over at Aeris, and noticed she had her hand by her mouth. I looked closer—was she _chewing on her nails?_

She _was_.

I walked over and sat down next to her. She hadn't said anything since Cait Sith—or _whoever _he was_—_had played audio of a little girl and an older woman—Marlene and Elmyra, obviously. She gave me a small smile—forced—and looked back to the ground.

"Aeris—" I started, and stopped, feeling awkward. I didn't know what to _say_. "Aeris, it'll—it'll be okay. We'll get your mom out."

Aeris didn't respond. I looked around for someone who would help me, but my eye was caught by Cait Sith. He was watching me, his eyes narrowed. I gave him a one finger salute and went to grab Cloud and Tifa.

"Cheer her up," I urged them. "I haven't been with you guys long enough—I don't know _how_. Please?"

They went over, each taking one of her hands, preventing her from going back to chewing her nails, and they talked. I watched them, wrapping my arms around myself, suddenly feeling exhausted.

A heavy hand landing on my shoulder made me jump, and I turned to see Barret. "Kid, you look like you're about to fall over," he said, and his tone of voice made it obvious that _this_ was an apology. "Go get settled in and as soon as we get the Weepy Trio in the buggy, we'll leave." I blinked, and looked over at Cloud, Aeris, and Tifa, and sure enough, there were tears. Blinking again, I went and fell into the passenger side of the buggy.

A door closing made me open my eyes, and I glanced over at the driver's seat to see Vincent there. Closing my eyes again, I started to doze again—_it's not _fair_ he's so pretty… he's a _guy…

--

"You know, Vinnie," I started conversationally. Vampire Boy did his Eyebrow Thing, seeming to encourage me—or maybe he was just surprised I'd started a conversation out of nowhere—I dragged my mind back to the previous train of thought. "You're pretty enough to be a girl."

He blinked, showing off long dark eyelashes. "…Don't say that again."

"And then you could change your name to—to—uh, Vinita or something."

"Yuffie—" Poor Vinnie. He was turning green. Well, maybe not _green_. But he didn't look like he was enjoying the mental images.

"And the guys would be all over you—"

"Stop." He'd said it in his I Am Not Amused And I Have A Gun voice, so I stopped. With _that_ conversation, anyway.

"Just saying," I replied, a big grin on my face. It faded as I remembered something I wanted to ask about. "So, uh, did you tell Cloud about the thing?"

"The…thing," he repeated. Vinnie didn't seem to be able to read my mind, which was unfortunate, because I _didn't_ want to let Cait Sith—who was sitting nearby—to know about the tracker Reno had given us if he didn't already.

"Yeah. The black thing." Vintage had a blank look on his face. "The toy you got after our fun helicopter ride?"

"Ah. Yes." He didn't say anything else about it, so he must have been as wary of the cat robot thing as I was. "No, I haven't yet had a chance to."

It was nighttime again, but after my nap in the buggy, I wasn't anywhere _near_ ready to go back to sleep. Vinnie never seemed to sleep, as far as I could tell, and Cait Sith—well, he's a _robot_, and as far as I know robots don't _need_ sleep, even if the cat was curled up on the head of the Moogle in a convincing imitation of it. I frowned, remembering the _other_ thing I wanted to ask. "Ah… Vincent?"

He just looked at me.

"Um… you were on the helicopter, right? When the Turks were talking?" At his nod, I continued. "Uh, where were they taking me? And why?"

He was silent for long enough that I didn't think he was going to end up answering, but he did. "Junon. Apparently Professor Hojo has taken an interest in your…abilities."

"Hojo—wait, the same one—" I cut myself off at the look on his face. "There's not a chance it could be someone else?" I was begging to be told that it was someone else—**President Shinra was always so _stingy_**—but Vincent doesn't believe in self deception, apparently.

"It is unlikely," he replied bluntly. I shivered at his answer and made my way back to my room.

Vinnie knew _just_ the things to say to make me feel better.

--

The next morning, after a tense discussion with Cait Sith—"If you _don't_ take me along, you won't _have_ relatives to try to rescue"—we set out on the Tiny Bronco. (Curse the vomit-inducingness of it all!)

Vinnie must have pulled Cloud aside at one point and told him about our super-secret-weapon, because when we ate breakfast, he told us he knew how to find the Temple.

And didn't tell Cait _how_ he knew once the cat stopped gaping at him. Hah hah. Take _that_, catface.

So we went out on a boating trip and I was sick the whole time and missed out on the whole "finding the Ancient's Temple" thing. You know, because puking doesn't help with the watching of the horizon kinda thing.

We hit land, and we hiked—uphill both ways! Except not.—to the temple.

While we were climbing stairs—have I mentioned recently I've decided I hate stairs?—I kept thinking that I saw something out of the corner of my eye, but nothing was ever there when I looked.

After a while, I started to ignore all the flickers of might-have-been-something. Then something happened that took my mind off of that.

Remember Nibelheim? And the People With Black Cloaks? Well, one just randomly fell down dead on Cloud.

I'm _serious._

"Oh, what the _hell_," he said crossly, sliding the corpse down to the ground. He-she-it's hand had the same blood-red tattoo—IX, this time—as all the other ones we'd run into had.

Cloud didn't seem impressed with the way random People In Black Cloaks were dying all over him.

I can't blame him, really.

Entering the temple, though, _really_ distracted me.

Wouldn't _you_ be distracted if you stepped into a room that smelled like blood and had a _guy in a dark blue suit_ who was slumped against an altar thing?

Who _wasn't dead._

"Ah, it's you," he croaked, and paused to swallow. "You're too late—Sephiroth has already entered the temple."

Aeris stepped forward, her hands glowing with healing energies, but Cloud held her back.

"How can we trust you, Tseng?" the Guy With The Big Sword asked. I wanted to cry you "He's bleeding like a stuck pig, and you're pissing around and playing '_why should we trust you' games?"_—but he's a _Turk_—

—but none of the Turks I'd _really_ interacted with were that bad—

—and while I was trying to figure out what to do, the Turk—Tseng, I guess—went and fended for himself. By laughing. The sound had an underlying gurgle that was _really_ disturbing. "You know what Sephiroth's handiwork looks like, don't you?" Tseng smirked when Cloud went pale, and I could see past him that Tifa had wrapped her arms around herself. "Take a closer look," he offered, grimacing as he shifted his hands on the bloody cloth on his waist.

We stood around and stared at each other, none of us really feeling brave enough—I know _I_ didn't. Vinnie, apparently, didn't feel nervous about being near a Turk—wait, he _had been_ a Turk—as he went over and knelt next to Tseng while we were all still going "no, YOU go look" silently.

"This wound was made by some kind of sword," Vampire boy announced with detached interest. "What weapon does Sephiroth favor?"

"He uses a sword called the Masamune," Cloud replied grimly. Vincent nodded, looking thoughtful. Turning back to Tseng, he reached out, his hand glowing with the green light of a healing spell. When he touched Tseng's shoulder, though, the light didn't get sucked into his body like usual—instead, it spread out over the Turk's body like oil on water.

Tseng grimaced. "A wound caused by Masamune can't be healed by magic—you either recover naturally, or you die." Opening his eyes, he stared at Vincent. "You're…?"

"No one of importance." I couldn't see Vinnie's face—it would be weird if I could, since he had his back was to me!—but his voice was cold. "The keystone."

Tseng gaped at Vinnie like—I don't know _what_ he gaped at Vinnie like. Maybe it's a Tseng-only expression? Anyway, Vinnie had to repeat himself to get Tseng to give up the keystone.

And after _that_ he had to help Tseng move away from the altar, as no one was willing to go near him.

_I_, at least, had a reason, due to the fact that he was the one who had kidnapped me the most recently.

I don't know what the others' deals were.

After moving Tseng, Vintage had a Look on his face that stated that anything else that had to be done would Not Be Done By Him. He pressed the keystone into the altar and, with a dramatic flourish of his cape thing—who does he think he _is_, some kind of _bad movie vampire_?—he stepped aside.

Aeris seemed willing to go, but she was sandwiched between Cloud and Tifa, who _weren't_ willing to go. Exasperated, I stepped up to the altar.

"Kisaragi," Tseng rasped from his seat by the wall. Looking at him warily, I could feel my lips pressing together. "It seems Leviathan's curse has struck me, after all this time…" I felt my frown fading a bit, and I puzzled over his wording—it wasn't _quite_ an apology—he didn't seem like the kind of person who would apologize, anyway—but it was something close to one. I couldn't forgive him—

—no. Self deception has its place, and it had nothing to do with this.

I _wouldn't_ forgive him—but—

"Even Leviathan's palace floods," I replied, turning back to the altar. Looking down at the carved channels there, filled with what looked like some kind of glowing liquid, I licked my lips.

Taking a deep breath, I plunged my hands into it—

—and felt the bottom of my stomach drop out. Oh, and then there was the fact I couldn't feel the ground under my feet, was hanging in nothingness—

—until, finally, inhaling, I felt the world forming around me again.

I stumbled as I went from standing on smooth, old stone to a rough, uneven pathway. I moved forward, finding myself in the middle of a room with stairways _everywhere_—in every direction, on every wall. Even on the _ceiling._ Staring up at the dizzying maze of steps, I firmly squashed down the urge to puke—being sick on the Tiny Bronco, or in the buggy, is one thing—but on solid ground? Just because some crazy person had built the Stairway Room of Doom? Unforgivable.

I didn't have much time to think about something I'd realized about what Tseng had said—after all this time? It hadn't been _that_ long—before I heard someone cursing from behind me and turned to face Cid. "What kind of maniac came up with this place?" he grumbled.

Red appeared, and started sneezing. I watched—couldn't make myself look away, really—with horrified fascination as glowing drops of liquid went spraying everywhere.

"What did you _do_, stick your _nose_ in it?" I asked when he finally stopped sneezing. He looked at me in irritation and didn't reply beyond "I'm a bit lacking in the hands department."

Eventually we were all on the other side of the altar-portal-thing, with Vinnie being the last one across.

It was strange, though, because there was a longer pause before he came over then there had been between everyone else.

So I asked. "What happened? Did you get lost?" I wasn't _trying_ to be annoying. _Really_.

Vinnie didn't care about my so-totally-not-trying-to-be-annoying. He just gave me a Look. I shut up right quick.

Cloud shook his head, looking impressed. It's because of my ability to ask intelligent questions. _Really_. "I wish I could do that," he muttered. Cloud wants to be smart, just like me. La la la _I'm not listening._

And then I really _wasn't_ listening.

Because I'd noticed someone who wasn't one of our happy group standing nearby.

It—because it _was_ an it—was short, with a large hat shadowing its face and a loose robe covering its body. As I squinted, I could see flickers of faces—like it had forgotten what it had once looked like—

"Yuffie, what is it?" Red asked, looking at me strangely.

"Uh, there's someone standing, like, right next to you, Red," I replied, gaping at the person.

"What are you talking about? I don't see any…thing," Cloud said, trailing off as he apparently began to—well, see something. Looking around, I saw Aeris was also staring at the person.

"Aeris," I started, sounding strangely calm even to _myself_. "Do you see a person wearing a hat and a robe?"

"Yes, actually," she replied, sounding just about as casual as I did.

"Oh, good," I said cheerfully. "Then I'm _not_ insane."


	21. Venias

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

* * *

"Yuffie…" Aeris said hesitantly, and I rolled over to find her and Tifa crouched next to me. 

After we ran into the silly hat guy, we ended up chasing him through the stairway room—do I even have to mention how freaky that place was? And, um, sickness inducing. Yeah. But I think that was a given.

Anyway. Eventually we cornered him—her—_it_—in a room. Thankfully the room was a just a room—that was a relief.

And when we got there? We found out the freaking hat guy thing was a Cetra—operative word being _was_. As in, dead. For a long time. A _really_ long time.

Aeris was the only one who was really able to hear the person…thing, but I could hear little bits and pieces. _Understanding_, however, was a different matter. Didn't help that I didn't hear much of what it said. Might have been the shields Aeris had on me…

Right, anyway. We were in a normal-looking room, so Cloud went all leaderish and said we'd take a rest.

Which is why I had been laying there until Aeris and Tifa came up.

"Yuffie," she said again, "you've been—snappish—with everyone except Vincent. Do you want to talk…?"

I really have to say that my mind is probably my worst enemy. That is, I think too much. Way too much. If I think about something long enough…

Aeris stared at me, with Tifa looking over her shoulder in concern, and I huffed and rolled back to face the wall. "Vinnie's the only one who didn't think I decided to up and run off to give Shinra the keystone."

But, I couldn't help thinking that Vincent hadn't been there when Cait Sith had told the others—

For _that_ matter—"Didn't Vincent _tell_ you what happened?"

"Yuffie—" There was enough unease in Tifa's voice that I looked over my shoulder at her. "When—when Vincent was a Turk, he—stopped a strike that a group of Shinra employees had started at one of the plants."

"Cait Sith didn't tell us how, but Vincent—" Aeris glanced across the room, where Vincent was leaning against the wall. "He was a Turk, so he probably…" Her voice trailed off.

I knew what she was thinking—I was thinking the same thing.

But with the source of the information—

"You believe the person who told you that I gave Shinra the Keystone?" I couldn't let that go—not yet.

"We _apologized_," Tifa said, sounding hurt and angry.

I thought of things I wanted to have said, later—things that were sharp, and hurtful, things that would satisfy a childish urge to hurt them as much as they had hurt me—

But at that moment, words just didn't come. I looked back at the wall, and said nothing.

I didn't even reply when they left. I wanted to forgive them, but—

It _hurt_, knowing that the people I had considered friends could believe that I would do something like that.

--

It took a long time to get myself into a better mood—or at least, the appearance of a better mood. But as I'd found out in the forest, if I put a smile on my face, I ended up being cheerful at some point after that. I don't know how, but—it worked.

By the time I had done that, our break was over. So we went back into the stairway room, and had to work our way out—it was a relief when we managed that.

So_ then_ we found ourselves in a room with _boulders _(!) _rolling along a narrow path._

No, I don't get it _either_.

Every so often there was a longer pause between one boulder and the next, but it wasn't long enough for _all_ of us to get through to the part of the path where it widened up. I considered using Cloud—no, Vinnie would probably be a better choice, he's taller—as a boost to get myself up and over the boulders, but how would _that_ work out after the first one?

Besides, I don't know if I would even _land _right—the ground was still evil uneven stuff.

Anyway. The funny people go marching one by one, hurrah

What? No, I don't know either. It seemed like a good idea.

So once all of us got to the wider part (It took Barret several tries, because he's _slow_), we stood and talked for a few minutes.

Half of us were ready to just _leave_, and half wanted to go on, and this time it wasn't _Cloud_ who was sitting on the fence—it was Vinnie Vinnie Valentine.

Eventually we decided to go on—some with more enthusiasm than others. There was something here, apparently, that Sephiroth wanted. And what Sephiroth wanted, Cloud wanted to keep away from him.

So, after another _fun_ game with rocks, we saw a _creepy dude with white hair down past his ass_ slash Tseng. In a pool. Then we had to do one more round with the rocks before we were finished.

And _then_ we got to play on a clock.

Know what? I don't even know why I'm talking about this part. Nothing really important happened—okay, so maybe we got a key and then a hat-dude stole it, but we got it back, and who _really_ wants to hear about our chase of it through weirdly connected caves?

Well, I don't care if you want to hear about it. Go ask someone else.

After we got the key back, we entered the room and looked around. There was no one there, but there was a feeling—a _presence _there. It wasn't a kind presence.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud yelled, glaring around the room. "Where are you?" His voice had gone chilly and angry—and I was suddenly glad that I wasn't the one he was angry at.

"So cold," someone murmured. "S-so cold. I am always by your side… So come, come to me, come…"


	22. Silence Before the Storm

**Learning How To Breathe **

By Faronon Star Wolf

**Notes**: Apologies. I had a few problems getting the laptop I bought to connect to the internet, and it had the most current version of the chapter on it. However, from here on out there _shouldn't _be any more problems… This is not going to be a common thing, hopefully.

* * *

So, when someone whispers for you to come to them, you just _don't_, right? _Especially_ if you can't see them. 

Okay, so we agree about that. Good to know. But, Cloud? His logic is not real-person logic. He stalked toward where the voice came from.

We, of course, followed. Couldn't just let Spikes get skewered because some creep was hiding in the shadows and whispering suggestive things in our ears, right?—okay, maybe not _suggestive,_ but… On a creep scale of one through ten? _Fourteen,_ I'm _serious._

So, a few steps into the room, and then the general feeling of _wrongness_ kicks it up a notch. I winced at a brush of thoughts and feelings—**splendid—a treasure house of knowledge**—and _cold dark hatred._ It only grew stronger as someone seemed to fade—_fade?_—into sight.

You know, I really don't like to remember this part. But it's not for this—it's because of what happened _after._

But… I guess I might as well continue.

Cloud went up and confronted white-haired dude. White-haired dude is _obviously_ completely out of his mind.

I mean, becoming one with the planet? _Get real_.

So we listened to Crazy White-haired Dude for a while longer (really, I tuned out what he was saying so I wouldn't do something stupid—like, say, grabbing Aeris' whackstick and beating him over the head with it—_that sword was longer than Cloud's!_ I didn't want to be Yuffie-on-a-stick.), and then we had to fight a dragon.

I don't like dragons. Never have.

After the fight, Cloud went a bit…off. Though "a bit" really means "a lot", and "off" just isn't strong enough when it comes to talking about someone who's almost _cackling like a maniac._ And as we stared at him, he started to mumble to himself, staring at one of the paintings on the wall.

"Cloud…?" Aeris called, looking concerned. She stepped nearer, to join Tifa where she stood a few steps away from Cloud.

"I remember," Cloud-the-weirdo said. It was almost hysterical, when you came right down to it—he sounded like he was on the edge of tears. "I remember. I remember now."

"Cloud." This time it was Tifa's turn to try to get his attention, but even with the two of them standing there he didn't respond for a while.

"What?" he finally asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing," Aeris replied, sounding troubled. Oh, _sure—_don't worry about going insane, we're _all _crazy here! "Sephiroth—he's gone, Cloud."

"I know," Cloud replied, back in his I Don't Care About You People mode. "So… what's this Black Materia that he was talking about? Where can we find it?"

"I don't know," Aeris replied, but she looked around. Neither of them seemed to notice that Tifa had pulled away and was watching both of them suspiciously. Cloud, because of his little freak out, I guess, but I don't know why she was looking at Aeris like that. Not that I _cared_ or anything—I just came because I owed Aeris! Debt isn't just canceled because the person you owe thought that you betrayed them! "I can ask the spirits of the temple, though."

Cloud nodded, then looked over at me. "Yuffie, see what you can sense."

"What? No _way!_" I wasn't bitter about the whole Keystone thing, really—well, okay, yeah, I _was_—but that wasn't all of it. "This is were Tseng got skewered, isn't it? There's no _way—_"

"Oh, really?" Aeris murmured, a distant look on her face. "I didn't realize that was why… Thank you." Turning to face Cloud, she spoke, and while she was smiling, it wasn't _real_. It wasn't that bright, easy smile that she had always had. It was forced. "The temple… the _temple_ is the Black Materia."

"So? What do we have to do?" Cloud said, starting off towards the end of the room. "This thing has something to do with it, doesn't it? I mean…" As they walked off, their voices grew quieter—of course, why _should_ they let us hear what they're discussing? We're—er, the _others—_are just _followers_. (Me, of course, not having _any_ part in the matter.)

Hah! I say.

In any case, while they went and did their thing, I sat down next to the wall. Red had settled himself across the hall.

It was quiet for a while—it's not like I have much to say to the others, aside from Vincent, and none of them had much to say to me, apparently.

Eventually, though, the silence (relative, anyway—we could still hear Cloud and Aeris talking, but not what they were saying) was broken. Barret had been rubbing his gunarm, and finally he swore.

"Goddamn itch," he muttered, glaring down at the metal.

I blinked. "Uh…"

"Phantom pain," Cid replied. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and shook it until a cigarette came out, but he didn't light it—instead, he just rolled it between his fingers.

Barret was nodding—I _guess_ in response to what Cid said—and he'd gone back to rubbing his arm.

"Okay… so what does _that_ mean?"

Cid rolled his eyes. "If you lose a limb, your body still thinks it's there. So anything that would happen if it was still there ends up happening even if it _isn't_."

Even though I couldn't figure out how that would work—if you lose a hand, it's _gone_, right? So why would you feel stuff in it…?—I just left it, and looked for the other missing-hand-guy.

Vinnie was standing in a corner (did he give himself a timeout?), and he was scowling slightly—I don't know _why_, though. His expression lightened a bit when he noticed I was looking at him. Which was probably a good thing, because I was perfectly prepared to call him an emotard.

What? He _is!_

Anyway, while he wasn't looking pissy, he didn't look _happy_. He only lightened up in the matter that it didn't look so much like a storm cloud.

Speaking of Cloud—

"I've got the answer to your problem," Cait Sith said, hopping over to Cloud and Aeris. "You need someone to solve the puzzle, right? I'll do it."

"What—"

"This body's just a robot, remember—there's already another Cait Sith up and ready to go, so don't worry about me! I'll be back in two shakes of—of Red's tail!" Cait boasted. Looking down towards the end of the room, I noticed everyone else was starting to drift in the general direction of Cloud, Aeris, and Cait Sith. Making a face, I got up and joined the flow.

"Why are you willing to do this?" Cloud asked suspiciously. I don't blame him.

"I have my own reasons for wanting to find Sephiroth," Cait Sith said, dropping into that deeper, creepy-from-a-cat-robot human voice again. "But," he said, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped as he slipped back into the voice I'd gotten used to hearing, "take it or leave it! Just keep in mind that Sephiroth might have followers he can waste to get the Black Materia."

And with that, he went hopping off to the other end of the room, leaving a cluster of people and a vampire boy and a liondogthing staring at each other.

"I don't trust him," I announced after a brief pause. "He could do—I don't know, _something_ to mess us up."

"He betrayed you, and you betrayed us. I don't see what the fucking deal is," Cid grumbled, fumbling out another cigarette. I gave both him and his smelly cancer stick a dirty look.

"I _stole your Materia._ I didn't trick you into rushing into a lifetime—however long _that_ would last—commitment as a _labrat_." Cid coughed and looked away. I glared at him for a few more minutes before turning back to the discussion.

It didn't take long for them to decide. And of course, they were all trusting like and decided to let Cait Sith do what he wanted. And I didn't bother even trying to change their minds.

_I_ still didn't trust him, though.

After we'd—well, _they—_decided, we all turned to face Cait Sith, and he immediately bounced over. Well, _that_ wasn't anything new—he always bounces. I think it has something to do with Mog's legs being too short to walk on—but anyway, he was bouncing more than usual. And he had a big wide grin on his cat face.

"Don't tell me what you've decided yet," he said, still with that disturbing grin on his face. "'Cause I'm going to tell your fortunes!" Cloud opened his mouth to reply, but Cait just started to—um, _dance_ is a misleading word, but I don't know what _else_ to call what he did, so…

Finally he stopped, and struck a pose. "See, I took all the names for everyone and I inputted them into a program that I made because—well, long story short, it goes through and chooses the best match for a person. And Cloud, you're first!" Mog's mouth opened as Cait reach down and pulled out a piece of paper. "Now, see, you're most compatible…with…" Trailing off as he looked at the paper, the cat robot frowned. "Now that's odd." He crumbled the paper up and threw it aside, doing his "dance" again.

And while he was doing that, I snuck over and grabbed the paper. And snickered.

Why? _Because Cloud had _everyone_ on his list._

--

After a few more failed attempts at getting a "reasonable" list of compatibility for Cloud, Cait Sith gave up and just went on to fortunes. And even _there_ he had trouble getting stuff to make sense. (I mean, Vincent, getting "You are headed for a land of sunshine"? What the _crap_.)

Finally he got around to me ("You stand in your own light. Let it shine."), and paused. With a small frown on his face, he cocked his head to the side. "Yuffie, when you get the chance… head to Wutai."

"_What? Why?_" It took me a second to realize he was in my face—why?—my hand was locked in the collar that held his cape up—

His eyes narrowed as he stared at me. "I had the Turks deliver something as an apology, but if you're going to treat me like this, maybe I should just take it back…"

Staring at him, I forced myself to take a deep breath, and lowered him back down onto Mog's head—_my arm was shaking_—convinced my fingers to release him. "If anyone is hurt—_anyone_—I am going to hunt you down and _kill you_," I hissed.

"Why," Cait Sith started, his voice as low and angry as mine, "are you so sure it's something bad?"

"Why should I think it _isn't?_" I took a breath to continue, but—

"Yuffie—Cait Sith—just—just stop, okay?" Tifa said, rubbing her forehead, and I glared at the robot for a bit longer before turning away.

Cloud explained the decision and then we tromped off, leaving catthing to do whatever. And we went on our merry way, o'er weirdly connected caves and clock, and fought some kind of door monster.

I've got _no_ freaking clue what the hell was up with that thing.

And so we stood outside and waited as Cait Sith babbled at us over the phone—"Don't forget me when the new Cait Sith comes"? What the crap. He'll _have _the same controller—and then with a rumble, the stones of the temple started to glow.

It grew brighter and brighter until I had to look away, and the whole time the rumbling got louder, too—

—and then the silence came.

I know _now_ that it was the calm before the storm.


	23. Puppet Strings

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

For a few minutes after everything stopped, we remained in a huddle where we had been standing—and then Cloud got Ideas. Well, that is, he started toward where the temple was.

Well,_ had_ been. Because, y'know, it was _gone_ now.

And _now_ there was a Big Freaking Hole where it had been. And by the time the rest of us had gotten to the edge, Cloud was scrambling down the side of said Big Freaking Hole. Aeris took one look at the black thing in the center of it and began scrambling down into the Big Freaking Hole, too—but she had a harder time doing it—y'know, her skirt and all.

Cloud waited until she was down at the bottom—caught her, actually, when she slipped—and then stepped towards the Black Sparkly Thing. Gee, maybe that was the Black Materia!

Okay. I'll stop with that.

Anyway. Clod went and picked it up, and talked to Aeris—I'm calling it a Big Freaking Hole for a _reason_, you know, so it's not like I'm not telling you what they said because I _want _to—and then white hair crazy dude—Sephiwaffle—showed up. Again.

He's _really freaking creepy_, okay? _Much_ worse than Vincent.

And they talked. I could see Vincent aiming his gun at white hair creepy dude, but he didn't seem willing to shoot. I don't know _why_—I mean, he's a Turk, right? Or was. Don't they assassinate people?

I watched as they talked, and then Sephiroth made a gesture—**wake up!**—I flinched at the sudden voice—

—and _Cloud walked forward, holding the Black Materia out in front of him_.

"Cloud, what are you _doing—_" Tifa shrieked—**good boy**—stepping forward—only to be pulled back by Barret as the ground at the edge of the hole gave out—

—**well done**—and then Sephiroth was _gone_—

—and so was the Black Materia.

Cloud had collapsed, moaning, and Aeris went to kneel next to him before calling for Tifa to help her. And Tifa had gone. Red had offered to help, but the hole was Steep enough he would probably have problems going down—but Tifa didn't say that. She just smiled and said that they would be able to handle it.

And they _did_ seem able to handle it—Cloud seemed a bit dazed, but he looked sane enough—

—at least until he started to _beat the shit out of Aeris_.

_I_ was the one being held back this time—Vincent grabbed my wrist as I reached for my shuriken—

—I could hear the others shouting, but I didn't hear them—my head was full of _Cloud what the HELL ARE YOU DOING_—

—and Tifa pulled her arm back and hit Cloud _once._

He paused, midswing—and fell.

--

We met up with Cait Sith on our way out—unconscious Cloud and all.

The robot cat's eyes took in our expressions—and his eyes grew wide. "I missed some stuff, didn't I?"

We all looked at each other—and surprisingly, it was Vinnie who answered.

"You may have missed a few events, yes," he replied, with a Turk face on. Cait whistled—how can a _cat_ do that?—and blinked.

"What happened to make Mr. Silent the talkative one?"

"Well," Aeris said, and paused. I looked back to see her trying to get her lip to stop bleeding again, and then give up, "it's a long story."

--

After that, we traveled as quick as we could—which was slower than usual, because _normally_ we don't have to drag along an unconscious spikehead—and then got back on the Tiny Bronco.

Cloud was starting to come around, but Tifa hit him with a sleep spell, and he went quiet again.

I got myself ready for my usual puke-a-thon.

Between—_attacks_—I took the chance to look around at people—Tifa was sitting by Aeris, and from the pale green glow on her hands, she was healing the bruises that Cloud had—well, given her.

I didn't want to think about it.

Looking at everyone else—Cid and Barret seemed to be playing a card game of some sort, and Red and Cait Sith were watching—Vincent was taking his turn driving, and Cloud was still asleep—I considered going to talk to someone, but my stomach convinced me that wouldn't be a good idea.

I don't think any of them would appreciate smelling like puke.

Once we hit the Western Continent again, we stopped at Gongaga—Aeris had a weird look on her face when she suggested we stop—but either the others didn't see it—how could they _miss it_?—they'd traveled with her longer than I had!—or they didn't want to ask about it—

—so we stopped.

--

So: Aeris said Cloud would be fine in the morning. Therefore, everyone able to cast Sleep got to keep a watch on El Clod during the night. 

I wasn't one of those lucky ones. So I had a full night's sleep ahead of me.

Or would have had, if it weren't for those _pesky dreams_.

I don't remember much about it now, just crystal trees and Cloud and Aeris and a low threatening voice.

"_She's thinking of interfering, is she? We must stop that girl soon, pet."  
_  
I woke, panting, staring up at the ceiling of the room. Staring around the room, I waited until my eyes adjusted to the light—

—I could see Tifa's dark hair against the white pillow case, but I couldn't see Aeris—

"Aeris?" I called quietly, putting my feet on the floor. She wasn't in her bed—maybe she'd just gone to get a drink of water—

—except I sat and waited for what felt like forever, and she never returned. 

I went looking for her—

But I couldn't find her anywhere.


	24. Haunted Trees, Restless Ghosts

**Learning How To Breathe**

By Faronon Star Wolf

**Author's notes**: Don't say I never write anything for you. XD;;

* * *

"Tifa," I hissed, shaking her shoulder—she was usually such a light sleeper—why wasn't she _waking up_? "_Tifa!_ Wake _up!"_

"Yuffie?" I jumped and turned to find Red looking at me, puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"Red—could you g-go wake the others up?" I swallowed—my voice was shaking. "We—we have a problem." Red didn't look puzzled anymore—he looked alarmed. I didn't care that Tifa had believed Cait Sith over me—I didn't care that Aeris had trusted the spy—and I didn't care that Red had thought that I would _ever_ work with anyone from Shinra. "Aeris—Aeris is _gone_."

--

No one was happy about being woken up. I didn't blame them.

But Aeris was gone—

—and Sephiroth had said—

—**must stop that girl soon, pet—**

I couldn't stay angry at them. Not now. Not with that threat—even if it _was_ just a dream—I just _couldn't_. Not when I knew I would need their help to do anything to stop Sephiroth.

Maybe if I were older—

But I wasn't. And I had to rely on them for help, and they weren't going to get _anything_ done if they kept arguing.

—well, I say that _now_, but I think my reasoning then was something along the lines of "Aeris is my friend! They're Aeris' friends! I don't want to travel alone!"

I was inhaling—because you really _can't_ do an appropriately ear-shattering yell without enough air—when Vincent went and removed the need to stop the argument.

He started for the door, and it was almost like he had some sort of aura thingy to spread silence as he went—the others stopped talking and stared.

Before he left, though, he turned and gave us all a Look. "Arguing," he said, "will not accomplish anything."

--

After that, the search was on. At least it was for most of us, because Tifa volunteered to stay behind to tell Cloud what happened when he woke up, and Barret stayed behind too—and I really didn't want to remember what probably prompted him to do that.

One thing that I hadn't known about the phone-things we'd gotten was that they could also be set so that they picked up _all_ of what was being said on a—Cd called it a channel, but I'm still a little iffy on what actually happens—and so it wouldn't be just one-on-one communication. Which, of course, was pretty spiffy for the Search For Aeris.

Aside from the First big discovery—the Buggy-Puke-Thing was gone—and another one later, there was a big fat load of Nothing.

Cod, of course, had decided to check on the Tiny Bronco, after discovering that the Buggy was gone.

And that was the second Big Discovery.

"Goddamn it, _who the hell's been messing with my plane?_" That was Cid, of course, but at the time I jumped before remembering.

Tifa replied, asking what the problem was, and apparently, somehow, a bunch of snakes had gotten onto the Tiny Bronco, and Cid would appreciate some assistance, goddamnit.

Obviously Aeris didn't want us following her.

As I wandered past the little graveyard again, I saw a flash of red and craned my neck—it wasn't Vincent, though. It was just some old man who was leaning over to put something on a grave. I huffed and went back to looking.

But, well, either Aeris took off on foot and someone stole the buggy, and we were hours behind her (unlikely, says I), or Aeris took the buggy and we were way way behind her. And as much as I hoped for an Option C (Aeris went for a walk and got lost, and someone stole the buggy), I knew that it wasn't very likely.

--

Since our search didn't turn anything up (well, _duh_), we went back to the inn too find that Cloud had woken up—I actually arrived when he was having a Talk with Tifa and Barret, and decided to wait outside until they were finished.

Once they were, though, we had our destination: the City of the Ancients.

Where ever _that_ was.

But, once Cloud mentioned the "Sleeping Forest", Cid and Vincent got looks on their faces like they knew what he was talking about.

In any case, we got shoved back onto the Tiny Bronco (which had been desnaked) and then we were off.

Again.

--

"So, what exactly is this place?" I asked, since everyone else was busy looking around. I mean, I was too, but I guess I was more interested in finding out what it was than I was in staring at bones.

And oh sweet _Leviathan_ were there bones. Also, a plane of some sort.

A plane of some sort that had crashed into one of the bones—a ginormous skull, in this case.

What? Ginormous is _too_ a word.

Besides, it's the only word that _fits_ something that big!

I turned to our fearless leader. Cloud shrugged and turned to Cid.

Cid rubbed the back of his head and stared at the plane.

"It's Bone Village," he finally said, "and that used to be my jet."

"Used to be," I repeated. "_Used_ to be?" Cid gave me a Dirty Look. "Did you _crash it?_" Dirty Look became Death Glare. I immediately shut up and edged over to hide behind Barret.

A man that I hadn't noticed stood up and walked toward us, and Cloud went over to talk to him—something about a harp.

I'm not sure—I hadn't been able to get close enough to hear what it was he was talking about.

After that was over, we all heard about how we had to wait until said harp was excavated.

Boooring.

So what else was there to do but take a look around?

--

"Don't go too far in," one of the men said absently, as he fiddled with the wiring on something. "It's the Sleeping Forest—it's dangerous."

I blinked and glanced at the forest. Anyway you looked at it, it was just normal trees. "Why?" I mean, how could _trees_ be dangerous?

"It confuses the mind—the Ancients cursed it, you see, because they didn't want people to come to their city." He snorted. "Not that it matters now, anyway. They're all dead."

I blinked again. "And if I want to try going in?"

He shrugged, going back to his work. "No skin off my back," he replied, eyes on the device.

I turned and walked toward the trees, trying to see further in. Light reflected off of something, so, with a glance back toward the village, I walked into the forest.

--

—**th!**—

I shook myself. There wasn't anything here—it was only crystal trees—

—**Lady Aeri**—

—and cobweb thin memories that dug into my mind.

"Damn it," I whispered, leaning against a tree.

I'd only been in the forest for a short amount of time, but aleady I had the sinking feeling I was going around in circles.

And if _that_ wasn't bad enough, Aeris' shields were faltering.

But still—

—**Lady Aerith, _please, _you need to rest**—

With that name, I would almost think—but with how weak these memories were, there was no way that it was Aeris that talking.

—**I will be fine—just get the wounded out**—

—**You are wounded!**—

Why—

—**Please—I will not survive long—get them out. I will guard you for as long as I can**—

—_it hurt_—

—**as you order, Lady Aerith**—

—**name my children**—

—**tell them**—

"Yuffie?"

"Huh?" I looked up. Cloud was standing in front of me. I looked around, startled.

I was back in Bone Village.

"Are you alright? One of the workers said you entered the forest."

"Oh—yeah. I did."

Cloud looked at me oddly, then gestured back toward where our tents had been set up. "Come on. I want to discuss strategies for if we have to fight Sephiroth." Apparently he had planned to discuss it earlier, but since I had went exploring it had to be delayed, and he didn't seem too pleased about that.

Despite that, I had to ask: "Hey, Cloud? Did Aeris ever mention a—a Lady Aerith?"

He thought about it for a bit before replying. "Not that I know of," he said, shaking his head. "You should ask Tifa, though. Why?"

"It's… nothing. Just something I heard."

He looked at me and shrugged. "If you say so."

With that, he turned and headed back, and I followed.

And one whisper followed me from the forest behind me:

—**the Materia**—


End file.
